This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. MLB.com's Justin Morris pinch-hit for this edition. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Joc Pederson shimmied in the Rangers’ batter’s box Sunday afternoon, lifting his right leg into the air as Toronto starter Shane Bieber began his delivery to the plate.
Pederson’s signature load -- his rhythmic gyrations, followed by a lofty leg kick (albeit, one that he’s cut down as of late) -- has become a staple for baseball watchers over the years. But it’s one Texas fans are still growing accustomed to seeing out of the leadoff spot.
That’s because Texas skipper Skip Schumaker recently inserted Pederson there after he spent much of the 2025 season in the middle of the order. The move kicked things into another gear for the 34-year-old – who, despite opining that batting first had nothing to do with his surge – has slashed .252/.340/.556 with 11 HRs (of 13 total) and 21 RBIs since assuming leadoff duties on May 12. Before the switch, Pederson carried a .225/.339/.326 slash line with two homers and eight RBIs.
As such, that signature load and leg kick from the left side of the plate is becoming a beloved sight for Rangers fans to begin games. And when Pederson loaded up to unload on Bieber’s first offering of the game Sunday, sending the four-seamer zipping into the right field seats (and color commentator Mike Bacsik into a rendition of Justin Bieber’s “Baby”), it was another reminder for Texas to coincide with Pederson’s own hot streak: This Rangers team is not the same group that it was at the beginning of the year.
No, this is a first-place team. One that has won five straight games. Seven out of its last nine. That’s above .500 for the first time since April 25.
That’s in large part due to its early offense. Pederson’s long ball Saturday marked the second time he hit a leadoff HR in three days. It also marked the fourth straight game in which the Rangers scored in the first inning.
As the summer months have risen about into reality, the Rangers have seen an uptick in their early production. Texas has generally been a formidable first-inning team this season, posting the fourth-best average (.264) and tying for the fourth-most hits (87) leaguewide in the frame.
But in June, they’ve morphed into a force. Texas is hitting .288 in the first inning during June, with 48 total bases and an .824 OPS.
While Texas leadoff hitters have slashed .308/.379/.603 in the first inning in 2026, they’re slashing .320/.370/.720 since the start of the month. One-hole hitters are averaging a hit every three at-bats during June (regardless of inning), with 37 hits and 10 home runs (more than twice the amount of any other spot in the lineup). Meanwhile, Texas has scored eight times during the first inning in the month.
They are 8-1 in such games.
Pederson deserves due diligence for much of that early success. He’s split leadoff duties with Wyatt Langford throughout the month, but with Langford hitting the injured list due to a left hamstring strain, Pederson will have sole control of that role for the next few weeks.
He’s done his part regardless of circumstance, having seen his first-inning average jump from .217 in March-May to .353 in June. He’s been cushioned, too, by elite hitting out of the two-hole, with No. 2 hitters posting a .417 first-inning average to back him. That spot has mostly been occupied by Josh Jung, with Corey Seager (back from the 7-day concussion list) and Langford holding it down in Jung's vacancy. Jung is hitting .273 in the first frame, while Seager sports a .500 average, and Langford sits at .235.
No matter who’s been behind Pederson, the Rangers have shown they can explode early with gargantuan scoring numbers. Like when they went off for eight runs in the first frame against the Astros on May 26, tied for the second-most of any team this season. Or when they erupted for six in the first on June 19 at San Diego.
And when they do, they generally win. The Rangers have scored at least one first-inning run in 26 of their 85 games this year, and have won 21 of those. Much like the weather they play in, the Rangers stay hot when they get hot early, and hold a 33-3 record when leading a game after the fourth inning.
The bullpen deserves ample credit for that. But so does the offense for its refusal to cool. And right now, they’re scorching hotter than they have all season.