The Texas Rangers have had a pair of disappointing seasons following their World Series Championship in 2023. President of baseball operations Chris Young has made changes by hiring Skip Schumaker as the new manager and by shaking up the roster. He has also stressed that the team will not be spending big on free agents.
Josh Jung could be a key performer for the Texas Rangers
The Rangers' offense struggled last year as they dealt with underperformance from a majority of the bats in the lineup, with the only two living up to expectations being Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford. If the Rangers want to improve, they will need more players internally to step up.
A player who could step up is Josh Jung. He has not been able to recapture his 2023 form, when he looked like a superstar and was named an All-Star third baseman. He posted a 2.3 WAR with 23 home runs and 70 RBIs. He posted a career-high slash line of.266/.315/.467 and an OPS plus of 113.
He has been unable to match those numbers over the past two years, as he has dealt with injuries, playing only 46 games in 202. He was healthier last year, but was still unable to match his 2023 results. His defense took a hit with -6 outs above average in 2024, but he bounced back in a big way last year with five outs above average.
Schumaker still has confidence in Jung, and he expressed that during the Winter Meetings. “I want him to be feared again.” He said, according to the DLLS Rangers.
Jung has always been an aggressive swinger and someone who doesn’t really walk. His average chase rate over the past three years is 33.86 percent. In 2023, that worked for him as he was able to barrel the ball at a 11.9 percent clip. His barrel rate decreased in the following years, being at 9.9 percent and 8.2 percent.
This shows that he can’t barrel the ball up to an elite rate consistently, so he will need to adjust and not chase as much. This will force pitchers to throw him more strikes, and he won’t be giving away strikes to opposing pitchers.
Pitchers have adjusted to Jung by throwing him more stuff out of the zone; now it will be up to Jung to adapt and to learn to be more patient at the plate. That would go a long way toward improving the Rangers' lineup in 2026.
More MLB news:
- Team USA's projected WBC lineup is incredible
- Dominican Republic's projected WBC lineup is fierce
- Reds have a promising prospect named Ichiro Cano
- It's a good day to remember Bob Feller's brilliance and his time in the U.S. Navy
- How Aroldis Chapman is able to pitch for Great Britain in the WBC
- Brewers' pitcher got a picture of him giving up a 122.9 MPH homer for Christmas