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Who could end Bruce Bochy’s search for Texas Rangers’ three-hole hitter in 2025?

Bochy has tried just about everything under the sun to spark the Rangers’ lineup in 2024, but to no avail. Who can be a solution next spring?

ARLINGTON — Bruce Bochy has tried to ride the hot hand. He’s tried to shake things up. Heck, he even briefly moved stalwart Marcus Semien from his leadoff position. He has tried — from a lineup and batting order position — a number of times and in a number of different ways to jumpstart the Rangers’ offense.

Here’s a new one: Slumping catcher Jonah Heim hit third in the order during the Rangers’ 1-0 walk-off win vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at Globe Life Field. The explanation was less-so based in mathematics and more-so based in, uh, desperation.

“We don’t have anybody hot,” Bochy said.

No one that necessarily fits the three-hole bill at least. Leadoff hitter Marcus Semien has batted .333 in Texas’ last six games, but only two other players (catcher Carson Kelly, .267 batting average, and right fielder Adolis García, .261 batting average) have hit better than .211 during a seven-game homestand in which the Rangers have averaged less than three runs per game.

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It’s produced grim results. The Rangers had been shut out in 22 consecutive innings by the Pirates before Wyatt Langford’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday. Heim had two of Texas’ six hits, including a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Comparatively speaking? Not a bad performance for a Rangers’ No. 3 hitter.

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The Rangers’ three-hole hitters this season — a group that’s largely consisted of Josh Smith (43 starts), Nathaniel Lowe (31 starts), Evan Carter (13 starts), Semien (12 starts) and Langford (nine starts) — have combined for a .710 on base plus slugging percentage (22nd-best leaguewide at the spot). Their 65 weighted runs created, an advanced statistic that “quantifies a player’s total offensive value” according to FanGraphs, ranked 23rd leaguewide.

In other words: It’s been subpar, and it’s especially damaging in a lineup whose most productive batters — Semien and Corey Seager — hit first and second and will all but surely do the same again next year.

So, about next year. Who are the Rangers’ most likely internal candidates to find a long term home in the three-hole?

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Josh Smith

Texas Rangers' Josh Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run during the...
Texas Rangers' Josh Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run during the tenth inning against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)(Sam Hodde / AP)

2024 stats in the three-hole: A .247/.344/.462 slash line, 9 home runs and 24 RBIs in 184 plate appearances.

Projecting forward: It’s a question of longevity and space. Smith was the Rangers’ unquestionable first-half MVP and a popular All-Star snub after he recorded an .861 OPS before the break. He’s been Texas’ least productive hitter since and brought a .198/.258/.284 slash line through 29 second-half games into Wednesday.

The bottom line: If Smith can rediscover and maintain something close to his first-half form, he can be a near-everyday player for the Rangers next season and a candidate to continue to bat third. If he devolves back into what he had been during his first three major league seasons — a glove-first utility player — it’s harder to justify.

Nathaniel Lowe

Texas Rangers' Nathaniel Lowe reacts after striking out swinging during the ninth inning of...
Texas Rangers' Nathaniel Lowe reacts after striking out swinging during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)(LM Otero / AP)

2024 stats in the three-hole: A .241/.346/.379 slash line, 4 home runs and 20 RBIs in 136 plate appearances.

Projecting forward: Lowe has the most experience hitting third of any internal option. The 29-year-old is a career .266 hitter with a .782 OPS in 1,160 career plate appearances in the three-hole dating back to his Tampa Bay Rays tenure.

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He hit .311 with 11 home runs in the three-hole during his Silver Slugger season two years ago and hit third in 144 games last season when the Rangers fielded the American League’s best offense. His experience — and the peaks of that experience — could help give him the inside track to the bulk of playing time in the No. 3 spot next season.

Josh Jung

Texas Rangers' Josh Jung, left, follows through on a single that allowed Adolis Garcia to...
Texas Rangers' Josh Jung, left, follows through on a single that allowed Adolis Garcia to score as Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, right, looks on in the 10th inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)(Tony Gutierrez / AP)

2024 stats in the three-hole: 2 for 8 in 10 plate appearances.

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Projecting forward: Jung hit third in Texas’ opening day lineup for the Chicago Cubs, did so again in that series finale and hasn’t since after a fractured wrist derailed the bulk of his season.

It may be worth revisiting next season — and, for that matter, the rest of this one. Jung has exclusively hit fourth-through-seventh since he returned from the injured list on July 29 and has played the majority of his career games (110) in the five-hole. He remains a cornerstone figure of the Rangers’ present and future, has been Texas’ third-best hitter from an OPS standpoint (.775) since the start of last season and is worth getting a higher number of at bats than if he were lower in the order.

The pause: Jung, when he hits in the second half of the batting order, lengthens the Rangers’ lineup and can provide a slugging boost beyond Seager and cleanup hitter Adolis García.

Wyatt Langford

Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) hits a walk-off single to score third baseman...
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) hits a walk-off single to score third baseman Ezequiel Duran during the ninth inning of an MLB game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Arlington. The Rangers defeated the Pirates 1-0.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)
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2024 stats in the three-hole: A .194/.256/.222 with one extra base hit in 39 plate appearances.

Projecting forward: Langford’s long-term future as a heart-of-the-order hitter (either in the No. 3 or 4 spots, both of which he has struggled in this season) is banked on his development. The profile that made the 22-year-old such a highly regarded prospect — patience, power and speed — fits well at that point of the lineup though.

Langford, as he showed in Wednesday’s win when he laced a David Bednar curveball into left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to score pinch runner Ezequiel Duran, can perform with men on base. His .863 OPS with runners in scoring position ranks fourth on the Rangers behind Seager, Semien and Smith.

“You want to be in those spots,” Langford said. “and you want to come through.”

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He’d theoretically have more opportunities in those spots hitting behind Texas’ half-a-billion-dollar middle infielders.

It’s something to consider. The Rangers will have some thinking to do in the offseason and spring training in order to help avoid another season-long offensive outage next year.

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