ARLINGTON, Texas — With the final pitch thrown on the mound by David Robertson at The Big A in Anaheim, the Texas Rangers’ 2024 season has come to a close.
The Rangers, coming off a World Series championship in 2023, finished this year far short of expectations, recording a losing season at 78-84 and coming in third place in the American League West.
Specific analysis of the Rangers’ lackluster season will come over the next few months, but this series was a great representation of what the Rangers could have been and what the Angels have spent the last 15 years being.
Game 160: Texas 5, Los Angeles 2 (W: Robert, 1-0, L: Detmers, 4-9, Sv: Yates, 32)
Game 161: Texas 9, Los Angeles 8 (W: Dunning, 5-7, L: Quijada, 2-2, Sv: Yates, 33)
Game 162: Texas 8, Los Angeles 0 (Eovaldi, 12-8, L: Kochanowicz, 2-6)
The comeback of the season
Just six days prior to Saturday’s final night game of the season, Marcus Semien ripped a base hit down the left field line for a walk-off win in the Rangers’ home finale. Coming back from a 5-0 deficit, the victory marked the largest comeback victory of the season for Texas.
After claiming the opener on Friday, 2024 rotation Iron Man Andrew Heaney struggled far worse than usual, and Texas was staring down a 7-1 margin after the third inning. With the Rangers’ offense sputtering all season, but especially during Heaney outings, a comeback from that deficit seemed to be out of the question.
But Bochy’s club, with absolutely nothing but pride to play for in this last week of the season, fought and clawed through to the last inning of play. Wyatt Langford continued his scorching hot month, crushing a solo homer just to the left of the rock garden in left-center field. The last two innings were a whirlwind of Rangers’ scoring events, with Nathaniel Lowe, who finished the night with a .301/.404/.470 slash for the month, ripping a double to center and Jonah Heim pulling his second career triple to close the gap to within three.
The ninth inning capped the comeback with Lowe drawing a bases-loaded walk and pinch hitter Jonathan Ornelas punching a two-run single to right to tie the game before Texas took the lead on a throwing error. Kirby Yates, as close to automatic as a reliever has been all season, finished the process of taking the air out of Anaheim on Saturday night.
A high note
Jacob deGrom made his third and final start of the season in the opener of this series. Of all the silver linings to look forward to for 2025, deGrom’s performance in his abbreviated starts down the stretch should give Texas their most hope of all.
deGrom threw four innings, his longest outing, using 53 pitches, striking out five and giving up just one earned run. The velocity was there, the deGrom-caliber control was there, and the Rangers’ ace walked off the mound in Anaheim satisfied with accomplishing the small checklist of goals that he had for 2024.
He pitched in big league games this year, after having had Tommy John surgery in early 2023, and while it may have made sense to shut him down and give him extra time to rest before the offseason, deGrom needed to know he could feel back to his old self on the mound this year. He did and now has a full offseason to prepare for joining the 2025 rotation at full speed.
Second chance to make a last impression
Nathan Eovaldi’s supposed last start as a Ranger, made at Oakland Coliseum against the Athletics, was a solid outing (7 IP, 3 ER, 7 Ks). It just wasn’t necessarily how Eovaldi wanted to end his season and potentially his tenure in Texas, especially since the Rangers ended up losing that game.
As something of a surprise starter for the season finale, Eovaldi showed Texas (and 29 other teams ahead of free agency) a taste of what he still has in the tank. The 34-year-old was every bit the ace that took the hill in Game 1 of many of Texas’ playoff series last fall, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out five, and walking none on the way to the Rangers sweeping LA.
Eovaldi has a player option to remain in Texas but will likely test free agency after the World Series ends. His verbal interest in returning to the Rangers has been expressed, but baseball is a business, and Eovaldi’s time as a Ranger may have come to a close.
Big league firsts
Marc Church and Dustin Harris both had memorable Major League debuts in this series in Anaheim. Church made his debut in the second game of the series, and it looked as if the 2019 18th round draft pick would have a less than ideal first appearance.
Giving up a leadoff double, Church quickly found himself at a disadvantage. The 23-year-old, who many thought would start the season in the Rangers’ bullpen, worked his way out of trouble, inducing a groundout and recording his first big league strikeout before getting a fly ball to end the scoreless inning.
Harris had a much more busy and impactful debut series. The 25-year-old, also drafted in 2019, started as DH on Saturday and went 0-for-2 despite hitting the ball hard. He did draw a walk to reach base for the first time in his career.
The season finale, however, proved far more exciting. Harris registered many other offensive firsts on Sunday. In the top of the seventh, Harris laced a double down the right field line, registering his first Major League hit and first two RBIs, giving Texas some insurance.
Harris wasn’t done there, as he added more insurance while slugging his first Major League home run and scoring his first run. Harris' first homer and first run were the last for the Rangers in 2024.
Texas now has a lot of work to do in the offseason. They will need to figure out how to get their offense back to the top after descending to barely middling. They still have a bullpen to address, especially the middle innings. There are some rotation gaps and depth to fill. But for now, 2024 is over and the Rangers will head back home for a winter that will contain far less celebration.
Do you think the Rangers will bounce back in 2025? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
