Rangers' struggles with southpaws continue in loss to A's

WEST SACRAMENTO -- It must have felt like left-handed pitchers were going extinct by how few of them the Rangers had faced to start the season.

By the end of Tuesday night’s game at Sutter Health Park, the Rangers were reminded of why it may be a blessing for them if southpaws did, in fact, go extinct.

The Rangers fell, 2-1, to the A’s as left-handed starter Jeffrey Springs dealt 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and Texas’ own southpaw, MacKenzie Gore, floundered through six walks in 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Rangers are now 1-3 when a left-handed pitcher starts for the opposing team this season.

“Tonight was probably a combination of both [approach and facing a good pitcher],” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I thought in the first couple innings, our approach was really good. I thought we were going to put up maybe even a crooked number after [Brandon] Nimmo's leadoff double and then couple good at-bats after that. We had a couple good at-bats in the second, third inning, and then kind of lost our approach a little bit, swung outside the zone. … Springs was good, too. He's been good.”

The Rangers scored early with a leadoff double from Nimmo and a two-out single from Jake Burger, but faded down the stretch. Springs faced just one over the minimum (Ezequiel Duran drew a walk in the second) after the first inning.

“We didn't have too many hard hits up and down the line,” Schumaker said. “There just wasn't too much hard contact after the first couple innings. I think we might have gotten away from our approach a little bit. Sometimes you have those days. But I get it. I know we’re 1-3 against lefties right now. It is a little frustrating. We felt like we had a good game plan, good at-bats, and then just nothing to show for it.”

Entering the day, the Rangers had only faced three left-handed starters, tied for the fewest in baseball after matching up against a string of 10 straight opposing righties on the mound. That left little opportunity for switch-hitting Sam Haggerty and right-handed-hitting Andrew McCutchen to make an impact on their half of their respective platoons. Haggerty only has 10 at-bats this season, while McCutchen has 26.

“It’s hard to get them consistent at-bats,” Schumaker said. “It’s been hard to get them in the lineup.”

LHP starters vs. Rangers in 2026:

• March 26 -- Cristopher Sánchez (PHI): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
• March 29 -- Jesús Luzardo (PHI): 6 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• April 1 -- Trevor Rogers (BAL): 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3K
• Tuesday -- Jeffery Springs (ATH): 6 1/3, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

This season, the Rangers are hitting .250 with a .745 OPS against right-handed pitchers, compared to .185 with a .523 OPS against left-handed pitchers, albeit in a small sample. And while Schumaker would rather not talk about 2025 -- a season when he did not manage the Rangers -- it has been an issue dating back to that time, though not quite as drastic.

In 2025, the Rangers hit .238 with a .695 OPS against righties and .225 with a .653 OPS against lefties with one of the worst offenses in the American League at the time.

“We have to find a way to make the adjustments,” Schumaker said. “I know what we did last year. I've heard that before. We hired a lefty BP pitcher. We're trying to do different things here to make sure that we're getting enough looks from the left side, and getting guys more comfortable. I do feel like it will translate. I know it sounds like an excuse.

“I get it’s the Major Leagues. But we’ve faced some really good guys, as far as the lefties are concerned this year. We've run into them early on. But we need to beat guys like this if we want to get to where we want to get to.”