As the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season continues to progress through its final weeks, the Texas Rangers need to have a sense of urgency now more than ever.

At the time of writing, the Rangers are 71-73 and fifth in the American League Wild Card race following a series-concluding 8-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. On Tuesday, they will begin a critical three-game series against the Seattle Mariners.

Texas’ 2026 season has been average at best, but the latest power rankings from Bleacher Report illustrate some hope for them yet.

Bleacher Report placed the Rangers at No. 15 among the 30 teams, and they fell into the “Fighting on the Fringe” category. 

At the time of publication, Texas was the only team out of the five in this category with a losing record. Bleacher Report acknowledged that even though both the Rangers and the Houston Astros went 4-3 last week, Houston still holds a two-game advantage in the American League West Division.

Texas does not have to do a lot to catch up with the Astros, but the margin of error is also slim. The latter is about to begin a gauntlet road trip in which they will take on the Philadelphia Phillies and the Rays, which provides a chance for the Rangers to regain control of the division if Houston begins losing games.

Texas also has some formidable opponents coming up, but it benefits from a nine-game homestand in which it will face the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets. 

If the Rangers can take care of business against the Mariners and do well against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road, they will be in a good spot. After their homestand, they will conclude the season on the road against the Minnesota Twins, who have also struggled this season.

Perhaps this outlook is why Bleacher Report has displayed some belief in Texas via its latest power rankings. Nothing is going to come easy for this group, because it has not shown that it can, but there is a chance that the end result can be favorable.

The Rangers have not been to the postseason since winning the World Series in 2023. Since then, there has been a lot of below-average baseball played by this organization. But if Texas can book a spot in October, it will be a good start to the tenure of manager Skip Schumaker.