Photo: Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire

Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? To see the full series, click here.

2024 Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 11th

Team Strengths

Marcus Semien has hovered around the top spot on the Runs Saved leaderboard at second base in each of the last four years. He’s never finished on top but he ranks 2nd at the position over the last four seasons.

Wyatt Langford came on strong at the end of the season to finish with 12 Runs Saved in left field, second-most at the position. Half of those runs were attributable to the lack of baserunner advancements on Langford. The only player with more last year was Jarren Duran (9).

Jonah Heim has had 6, 8, 6, and 5 Runs Saved the last four seasons, and we’ll still list him here despite some concerns about his pitch framing and basestealing numbers (he threw out 12-of-110 attempting to steal). 

Corey Seager’s not going to make a lot of dazzling plays but he’s been good the last two seasons, with 5 and 4 Runs Saved, respectively. One thing to watch with him: turning double plays. He’s had a below-average conversion rate in three of the last four years.

Adolis Garcia’s arm gets a separate listing from his glove because its so good. His 20 Outfield Arm Runs Saved over the last four seasons are the most in MLB. He’s had at least 4 OF Arm Runs Saved in right field in each of those seasons.

Team Weaknesses

Adolis Garcia’s range was the worst its been last season and explains his -5 Runs Saved total overall. In particular, things went worse for Garcia on deep balls than they ever had before. Garcia has been dealing with an oblique injury this spring, which isn’t going to help matters.

Other Things To Know

Evan Carter will get the first crack in center field this year. He’s played 6 games there the last 2 seasons but looked pretty good in left field in the 2023 postseason and last year. Their primary center fielder last season, Leody Taveras, totaled -10 Runs Saved.

Josh Jung was another player who looked great in the 2023 postseason but an injury limited him to 40 games at third base in 2024 and he finished with -3 Runs Saved.

Jake Burger replaces Nathaniel Lowe at first base. That could be a downgrade, though Burger hasn’t fully established how good he’ll be just yet. He’s got less than a half-season of MLB sample size to work from.

Are The Rangers A Good Defensive Team?

Yes, they are. They could challenge for best in baseball if Carter and Jung are good at their spots in 2025.