Chris Young has made it clear that the Texas Rangers cannot afford another season defined by the training room. Speaking at an end-of-year press conference at Globe Life Field following a disappointing campaign that saw the team miss the playoffs, the president of baseball operations pointed to a systemic lack of availability as a primary hurdle. For Young, the focus of the upcoming offseason will center on improving the overall makeup of the roster specifically regarding health, reliability, and dependability.

The numbers tell a grim story of a season derailed by attrition. The Rangers dealt with 34 separate injured list stints, tying them for the worst mark in the American League West. This instability prevented key stars from ever finding a rhythm together; notably, cornerstone shortstop Corey Seager and outfielder Wyatt Langford appeared in the same lineup only 76 times due to various ailments. From Josh Jung’s lingering calf strain to significant time missed by pitchers Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi, the organization spent much of the year playing musical chairs with its starting lineup.

To combat this trend, Young intends to dive deep into the athletes’ personal routines and recovery methods. He noted that the team plans to scrutinize offseason programs from head to toe, utilizing elite external medical institutes and specialists to conduct private assessments. By monitoring how players prepare their bodies away from the facility, Young hopes to identify patterns that lead to repetitive injuries and implement individualized adjustments before spring training begins.

Despite the frustration over player availability, Young was careful not to cast blame on his own internal training staff. He defended his personnel by pointing out that they successfully managed Jacob deGrom’s return and consistency over recent years. While acknowledging that baseball is a grueling sport where freak accidents happen, Young insisted that once injuries become a recurring theme across a roster, it becomes an organizational necessity to change how those players approach their physical maintenance.

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