After a difficult start to the season, the Texas Rangers are starting to make changes. The team announced Sunday that it had dismissed the attacking coordinator Donnie Ecker after a striking crisis led the Rangers to a file of 17-18 at the start of the year.
“After long discussions and deliberations, we now believe that this is the appropriate moment to provide our strikers with a new voice when we are looking for the objectives of winning the division and achieving the playoffs,” said Chris Young, president of the baseball operations team, in a statement. “We are extremely grateful to Donnie for everything he has accomplished here with the Rangers.”
The move came after Texas defeated the Mariners of Seattle 8-1 at home on Sunday, avoiding a scan of the Al West rival. But the last few weeks have seen a handful of disappointing results for the Rangers, who have lost the Navy 13-1 and 2-1 earlier on weekends and had three defeats in the lead last week.
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After short stays with the Giants of Cincinnati and San Francisco, Ecker joined the TEXAS strike staff in 2022, helping to lead the team to a World Series championship in 2023.
In the press release, the team said that the replacement of Ecker and “the club's strike staff” will be discussed this week.
The problems of Texas at the start of the season did not have to do with their pitching efforts: the Rangers are tied for the sixth best era in the League, at 3.44, and also have one of the lowest whip figures, 1.17. And yet, the team has already lost 18 games this year, including seven of their last 10.
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The problems with the Rangers concern much more their strikes: their average of collective strikers .228 is the sixth lower in the league. Texas also accumulated the second lowest number of points and the points produced, beaten only by the rich of Colorado, the league.
At this stage of the season, the Rangers sit down the bottom of the Al West, four games from the Division Navy and seated over the slightly desperate Los Angeles Angels. It is clear that the Texas front office see the same problem and hopes that a change of coaching will invigorate the Rangers offensive – before it is too late.
