Texas Rangers Third Baseman Returns to All-Star Form After Sluggish Start to 2026 MLB Season
Texas Rangers’ third baseman Josh Jung is, and has been, one of the key players and building blocks on the Rangers’ roster. Through injury and setbacks, he’s made his way back into the starting lineup and has started the majority of the season at third base, trying to be as productive as possible as he battles for the upper hand over Ezequiel Duran. The Rangers, as a whole team, have had a somewhat roller-coaster start to the season, but Friday's win over the Seattle Mariners shows the team's potential and what Jung can do on a nightly basis.
To start the season, there was a question mark about whether there would be an ongoing position battle for third base between Jung and Duran, and Skip Schumaker decided to go with the proven talent Jung and see if he could step up to the task, keeping Duran as the emergency utility player. The beginning of the season didn’t help the former two-time AL Rookie of the Month and AL Rookie of the Year Finalist prove his case, as through 11 games, he was hitting .188 with only six hits, one run batted in, and 12 strikeouts. The opening series against the Phillies was the worst start for the former World Series Champion as he went hitless, going 0-12 in three games, including five strikeouts. His plate discipline was extremely subpar, as Jung struggled, posting a 23.7.% strikeout rate, and only getting walked twice; maybe it was the early-season jitters, but as a trademark name in the organization, it’s always tough to go through a mini-slump like that.
It might’ve seemed like there wasn’t light at the end of the tunnel for a second there, but man, has Jung turned it around. Since that 11-game stretch, he has done a complete 180 and has proven himself to the team and to the Rangers fanbase. In eight games, he’s averaging .400, 12-for-30, in the box with seven doubles, three of those in the 5-0 win against the Mariners on Friday, and five runs batted in. The right-handed hitter has been the perfect example of patient plate discipline, as he’s only struck out four times in those eight games, and matched the strikeout number with the same amount of walks. As Jung continues to have these amazing post-slump performances, his teammates are starting to feel it in the dugout, as young phenom Wyatt Langford and Jake Burger matched Jung’s hit count with three apiece on Friday night. The Rangers will continue to look and rely on Jung to continue producing in the Seattle series, and when they return home to Arlington to face the Pirates, and tee off against their division rival Athletics for the second time in eight days.
