That was ugly. 42 comments


That wasn’t pretty. Arizona was not nice to the Rangers.

7-22. Not counting the two ties, the Rangers played .241 baseball this spring in Arizona.

How bad is that?

Over a 162-game season, a .241 winning percentage translates to a 40-122 record.

Only one team in the history of major league baseball completed a season with a worse winning percentage: the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics went 36-117 for a winning percentage of .235.

So, if you are trying to be optimistic, this isn’t the worst baseball team of all time. And, it won’t be either. Spring standings are skewed by too many variables.

Still, 7-22 has to mean something. How does this compare to other recent bad springs?

The 2016 Braves were 5-20, or .200. That team won 68 regular seasons games.

The 2012 Indians had an identical 7-22 spring record. They too won 68 games that season.

Again, the Rangers won’t play .241 ball this year. Spring training is not real baseball. But history is against the Rangers.

This team will be lucky to win over 70 games.

Now, if you are a Jeff Banister type who sees everything through rose colored glasses you will point out a year the Rangers had a similar bad spring training.

They went 10-19.

In 2010.

And in 2011, they played under .500 baseball in spring. Even in 2012. In fact, since 2010, the Rangers have played over .500 in spring twice. In 2016 and 2017.

Spring standings don’t matter.

So, is this team the 2010 Rangers? Or is it the 2016 Braves?

We’re going to find out starting Thursday.