The Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward on Monday, heaping him with praise as they pushed out the door. Woodward failed to take the team on the intended leap forward:

The additions of Corey Seager — with whom Woodward was close from his days as a Los Angeles Dodgers coach — Marcus Semien and Jon Gray this past winter heightened expectations following a 60-102 season in 2021. While the Rangers have played far better this year, with a run differential near even, their 6-24 record in one-run games would be the second-worst single-season winning percentage in such finishes since 1900, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

ESPN.com

One-run records are often a matter of luck. It’s difficult to find a manager who can maintain a great one-run winning percentage year after year. Often, a team that performs at an extreme one year reverts to the mean the next. One run games might offer an explanation of why a team’s record was great or poor, but probably aren’t an indicator of the team being great or poor.

I suspect, however, that the Rangers front office took note of managerial moves that failed in those games. Maybe they found a pattern they didn’t like. Maybe the players lost confidence in Woodward due to those moves. It’s also possible the front office didn’t do that great a job either. Losing when you’re supposed to win, for whatever reason, brought about the axe.

Tony Beasley takes over for the remainder of the season. Like Woodward, he was a career middle infielder who didn’t hit well. Unlike Woodward, he never made it to the majors.