It’s all over but the paperwork. The Rangers disappointing 2025 season effectively ended with three disappointing losses to the Houston Astros. 

It might be convenient to say this losing started the moment Adolis Garcia returned. And it did. Since coming off the IL, the Rangers are 0-4. In his four games back, he’s 1-for-13, with no extra-base hits, and an OPS of .220.

But the failure in Houston isn’t only on Garcia. In fact, not at all. It’s that, when Texas really needed Merrill Kelly and Jacob deGrom to step up, they didn’t.

Kelly had the worst outing of his season, allowing six earned runs in just three innings. DeGrom’s first inning featured had the third-most pitches he’d ever thrown in an inning. Even so, he got out of it with only two Houston runs scoring. It was the other three runs, scored on home run balls, that did in the Rangers. Last night’s outing was his worst this season as well.

It was bound to happen. In a season where the starting pitching had carried a dead offense, when it was needed most, it failed. 

The impossible run, led by the unlikely trio of Michael Helman, Cody Freeman, and Alejandro Osuna, has come to an end. 

Yes, the beginning of the end can be traced to the return of Adolis Garcia in the lineup. But it falls squarely on the shoulders—well, actually arms—of the Rangers rotation.

Texas is off today. They return home for two suddenly non-essential series, three games against the Miami Marlins and three games against the Minnesota Twins before the final three in Cleveland.

It’s all just filling out final lineup cards and entering final stats. Paperwork.

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