With one week left to play, the Texas Rangers are looking to claim their first American League West title since 2016.
Nearly a decade ago, the Texas Rangers captured their second consecutive American League West title.
Since then, despite winning a World Series championship in 2023, Texas has yet to win a division crown.
With one week to go in the 2026 season, the Rangers hold a one-game division lead over the in-state rival Houston Astros.
Here are three things that need to happen if Texas wants to hang another division title banner at Globe Life Field.
#1 - The starting pitching remains healthy and gives the Rangers more length - Through the first six games of the Rangers' final homestand of 2026, the starting pitching hasn’t provided much length.
Oftentimes, the Texas bullpen has been forced to cover as many as four innings in a game, requiring multiple relievers.
With Cal Quantrill now on the Injured List for the rest of the regular season, as well as MacKenzie Gore’s unknown injury status, the Rangers rotation is rather thin at the moment.
As manager Skip Schumaker has continued to allude to this season, the Texas pitching plans are a day-by-day puzzle that he and his staff are tasked with piecing together.
If one thing is for certain, it’s that the Rangers bullpen can’t continue to be asked to both cover large amounts of innings while maintaining such a high level of performance.
We certainly don’t know who all will be starting the final six games for Texas, but whoever it is will have to find ways to go deeper into games.
#2 - The Offense Continues to put together quality at-bats - While the pitching may not be anywhere close to fully healthy, perhaps for the first time all season, the offense is.
With Josh Jung back in the lineup, as well as Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford continuing to remain on the field, the Rangers lineup has had what feels like a pretty significant run at full strength.
Not only are the best hitters Texas has out there on the field, but they’ve been performing at a high level.
If the Rangers want to win the West, there is no doubt that will need to continue in the season’s final six games.
#3 - Getting a little help from your division rivals against your biggest rival - Everyone needs a little help sometimes, right?
The Astros will close their season schedule with two games against the Seattle Mariners and then four against the Athletics.
If the Rangers can get any sort of help from those teams, as they did from the Atlanta Braves this weekend, their chances of winning the division will shoot up significantly.
