Oct. 01, 2024 17:56 PM EST

Bruce Bochy Driven To Get The Rangers Back To Postseason With Maybe A Giants-Like Return

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy walks to the dugout after making a pitching change during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Jeff Chiu, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy walks to the dugout after making a pitching change during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy looks on from the dugout during the second inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bruce Bochy will turn 70 next year during his 28th season as a big league manager, and really isn't thinking beyond that.

He just knows where he wants the Texas Rangers to be, especially after they failed this season to even make the playoffs in defense of the World Series championship they won with him last year after he came out retirement.

“I’m still hungry to get back. Yeah, I’m disappointed, just like all of us. That’s why I got back in the game,” Bochy said Tuesday. “That’s what drives me. It’s still there, and that’s where I’m at right now. ... We’re working to get this thing back to where we want to be, and that’s getting back to the postseason and winning the championship.”

Bochy has completed the first two seasons of his three-year contract with the Rangers. In his debut, they went from six consecutive losing seasons to their first world title — and his fourth. Now they are coming off a 78-84 season in which they dropped below .500 for good on May 21.

Without elaborating on his contract, Bochy said he is where he wants to be and is happy.

“It couldn't have worked out better,” he said. “We've talked about my situation, believe me, and this is where I will end up.”

Bochy's 2,171 career wins are eighth all-time and the most among active managers, 574 more than Bob Melvin in his 21st season. Bochy managed the San Diego Padres from 1995-2006 and San Francisco from 2007-19, winning World Series titles with the Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

After both of Bochy's first two championships with the Giants, they missed the playoffs the following season — then bounced back to win the World Series again the year after that. There hasn't been a repeat champion since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000.

General manager Chris Young, who pitched for Bochy in San Diego and hired him to manage the Rangers, said a number of factors contributed to this losing season. Those included injuries to third baseman Josh Jung and young outfielder Evan Carter, and the underperformance of some key players such as 2023 AL Championship Series MVP slugger Adolis García and switch-hitting catcher Jonah Heim after being an All-Star.

The Rangers had a .238 batting average this season while hitting 176 home runs and averaging 4.2 runs a game. Those were all down significantly from their championship season, when they scored 5.4 runs a game and hit .263 with 233 homers.

Young said there is still a high level of confidence in the returning core group of players.

“Look at our identity in 2023, we were an elite offensive unit, and we obviously regressed this year. And I think there’s explanation for that regression," Young said. "The biggest remedy, in my opinion, is improving the guys that we currently have.

“We need Adolis to bounce back, we need Jonah Heim to bounce back. We need (center fielder) Leody Taveras to take the next step in this development. We need a healthy Josh Jung and a healthy Evan Carter,” he said. "You put that together, that’s a significant upgrade. That’s a bigger upgrade right there than we can get anywhere else.”

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