Some promising notes to take away from the Rangers’ offensive explosion against the Padres on Saturday in Surprise.
Texas Rangers infielder Cameron Cauley high fives catcher Willie MacIver as players celebrate after defeating the Cleveland Guardians 11-4 in a spring training game on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Goodyear, Ariz.
Now, we can run through all the reasons why this game was a laugher, mostly having to do with San Diego, playing split squads on Saturday, definitely sending the B-team to Surprise. It included soft-tossing lefty Marco Gonzales, who didn’t pitch in 2025 after arm surgery, being the opposing starter. And there wasn’t much depth behind him.All those qualifiers mentioned, it’s still impressive to score 22 runs even on a day when the wind is gusting out. And it really only was a pleasant breeze Saturday. The Rangers hit six homers, four in the 13-run third inning, the biggest inning for the team in a spring game since records were kept in 2006. What has become clear, regardless of quality of opponent, is that the Ranger hitters aren’t just there to get things over with. Even when the score is out of hand. The Rangers walked 16 times on Saturday, their second consecutive game with double-digit walks. That’s also their highest total in a spring training game since records were kept.They walked 11 times against Colorado on Friday and have had double-figure walks three times in 22 games this spring. They have walked 121 times this spring, most in the majors. They are simply refusing to chase wildly and seem to be better about attacking their own personal “nitro” zones. Self-awareness is important., had three hits in the loss in which Tyler Alexander was charged with three runs while trying to get through a four-inning relief outing. But we’re all about the glass being half-full here, so back to the big day in Surprise with some observations:Hard to pick out one offensive performance that stuck out when four of the first five hitters in the Rangers lineup each reached base four times. But let us rest our gaze on, who reached in five plate appearances with a walk, two homers, a double and a single. Nimmo scored five runs and drove in four. The other guys: Wyatt Langford , Andrew McCutchen and Josh Smith . The slacker was No. 3 hitter Corey Seager, who managed to only go 1-for-3 with a homer and a walk.It has also been a very good week for Ezequiel Duran, who may have solidified his role as the utility player. Duran, who hasn’t homered in a regular-season game since Sept. 8, 2024, homered for the second time this week and was 3-for-4; he was a triple shy of the cycle.Duran, who played first base on Saturday, is 5-for-13 this week with three walks and no strikeouts. Can’t overlook those last two stats for a guy who has a career strikeout rate of 25% and a career walk rate of just 4.9%. If he’s getting the message about plate discipline, then everybody is.There is a lot to rave about in Nathan Eovaldi’s pitching, but that plays out with stats. But his second inning on Saturday also illustrated why he is so valued as a teammate: He never slacks. After allowing consecutive hits to start the inning, Eovaldi hustled to make sure he was in place to back up a throw. On the next batter, he was in perfect position to take the throw on a ground ball that took first baseman Ezequiel Duran too far off the bag. And he finished it off by landing in proper position to field a scorched one-hopper back to the mound for the final out. You can’t execute every pitch perfectly every time, but you can be in the proper place on fielding plays, and Eovaldi always is.The competition for the Rangers’ final rotation spot looked like it was tipping heavily towards Jacob Latz. Now, it seems to have evened up with Kumar Rocker.Rangers could have full starting lineup available as last week of spring training nears If all goes well with Josh Jung and Kyle Higashioka, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker expects to have everyone ready for Opening Day.Evan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let's not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan.Emails reveal unseen maneuvering as Dallas debates City Hall’s future, business strategy
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