Last season, the Texas Rangers claimed a pennant en route to winning the World Series for the first time in history. Both they and the Arizona Diamondbacks made it to the showpiece series as rank outsiders, with the eventual champions entering the playoffs as the American League’s fifth seeds and the runners-up as the National League’s sixth seeds. Despite their lowly billing though, both teams managed to knock off heavyweights such as the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers before the Rangers ultimately emerged victorious.
As such, the Lone Star State outfit headed into the new campaign as the defending champions, but the defense of their crown couldn’t have gone any worse.