When you look at Rangers hitters’ batting averages, which are not good, it’s interesting to put them into context. Here’s a recap of the season so far from the Associated Press:

Offense is down again at the start of the big-league season. The batting average of major league hitters was .239 through the first full week of play, down from .240 through the first full week of 2024.

While the overall average generally goes up as weather warms in much of the country, last year’s average didn’t rise much and finished at .243—among the eight lowest years since professional baseball leagues started in 1871. This year’s current average is just above the record low of .237 set in 1968’s Year of the Pitcher.

Offense picked up significantly in the first full week, rising from 8.3 runs per game and a .231 average through March 30 to 9.3 runs and a .243 average from March 31 through Sunday.

Left-handed batting average is up slightly to .247 this season from .241 through the first full week last year and righty average has dropped to .232 from .239. Home runs per ball is play rose to 4.5% from 4.0%.

Stolen bases are up markedly. Teams have averaged 1.7 steals per game with a 79.3% success rate, rising from a 1.3 average and 76.4% success rate through the first full week in 2024.

Pitchers are just starting to heat up as they gain arm strength. The average four-seam fastball velocity is 94.1 mph. Last year, it was 93.9 mph through a similar period and the final figure of a record 94.3 mph was up from 91.9 mph, when MLB first started keeping track.

That’s an early season snapshot of major league baseball. While the average among all MLB hitters is at a near all-time low of .239, consider that .239 would be a huge improvement for six of the Rangers key hitters:

The good thing is, there’s an upside. One of these days, these hitters are going to start heating up. Even if they just reach major league average, that will be a huge improvement.

They are better than this.

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