Home Baseball Rangers’ Bruce Bochy stays candid while talking about the team’s unsuccessful attempt to repeat their World Series victory

Rangers’ Bruce Bochy stays candid while talking about the team’s unsuccessful attempt to repeat their World Series victory

Baseball — 09/16/2024

Following the Texas Rangers’ historic World Series win last season, which marked their first ever title, expectations were high for them to contend for a second championship in 2024. However, as General Manager Chris Young described, this season has been “embarrassing.” Manager Bruce Bochy has also commented on the overall disappointing performance of the team this year.

While the Rangers haven’t been mathematically eliminated yet, they are close to it, currently sitting seven games below .500 and in fifth place for the final wild card spot. In an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Manager Bruce Bochy struggled to provide a clear explanation for the team’s performance this season.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (15) watches game action against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at Chase Field.

“I wish I knew the answer,” Bochy admitted. “Clearly, I haven’t figured it out.”

Bochy further explained, “There are several factors contributing to why we’re not where we expected to be. Each season unfolds differently, and whether it’s players not having their usual performance or dealing with injuries, these issues impact our results.”

This will mark the 24th consecutive year in which an MLB team fails to repeat as World Series champions, despite Bruce Bochy having won four titles himself, including three with the San Francisco Giants.

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy in front of Globe Life Field.

Interestingly, each time a team led by Bochy secured a championship, they did not reach the postseason the following year, a trend that seems set to continue this season.

“It highlights how challenging it is to win a championship,” Bochy remarks. “To repeat, numerous factors need to align perfectly. You need your players to perform similarly to the previous year, avoid injuries, and perhaps benefit from a surprise or two… We didn’t achieve any of those, to be honest.”

Although Bochy emphasizes that injuries are not an excuse, the Rangers have indeed been plagued by them, affecting key players such as pitchers Max Scherzer, Jon Gray, and especially Jacob DeGrom, along with outfielder Evan Carter and third baseman Josh Jung.

“Injuries aren’t an excuse; every team faces them,” Bochy acknowledges, “but they’ve hit us particularly hard, impacting our core players. Our guys will admit they haven’t matched last year’s performance. We’ve struggled offensively, and it’s difficult to pinpoint why. We just didn’t have the same power as we did last season.”