What Texas Rangers’ call-up of rookie Cody Freeman means for Josh Jung

ARLINGTON – In setting an unofficial club record Friday for placing the most players on the injured list while on a break from the schedule, the Texas Rangers also rewarded Cody Freeman and sent a message to Josh Jung.

Freeman got a call-up and Jung got what amounted to a “stay down.”

The Rangers added Freeman and Rowdy Tellez officially on Friday for Sam Haggerty, who is dealing with left ankle inflammation, and Jake Burger, who is dealing with a quadriceps strain.

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It will allow Freeman, 24, to make his major league debut. Freeman, the club’s fourth-round selection in the 2019 draft, was hitting .315 with an .861 OPS at Triple-A Round Rock this season. He is a right-handed hitter, which will allow the Rangers to either platoon him with Evan Carter in left field or to use Ezequiel Duran in left against lefties. It means Freeman’s first major league start could come against 2024 AL Young Award winner, lefty Tarik Skubal of Detroit. Some reward.

Freeman is an excellent defender and was named the club’s Minor League Defender of the Year in 2025, but, if he does play left field, it will be his professional debut in the outfield. Manager Bruce Bochy said Freeman is capable in the outfield.

“Cody’s just a ball player,” Bochy said. “He grinds out the at-bats. He knows how to play the game. I enjoyed watching him this spring. He’s got a lot of energy. He’s got a lot of confidence, too, and he gives you some versatility. We like the versatility that he’s bringing, plus he’s been swinging the bat.”

In addition, the Rangers recalled Justin Foscue for utility infielder Michael Helman on Wednesday.

In overlooking Jung, who was optioned to Round Rock on July 2 after struggling through an awful June, the Rangers made it clear he’s not made satisfactory progress in eliminating the high, inside fastball that has become so problematic for him.

“He’s not quite there yet,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Jung, who began Friday 5 for 23 (.217) in five games since being sent down. “He’s trying to find his game down there. That’s all he needs to do. Josh just needs to be himself. He’s down there for a reason and that’s to work on his swing and his approach and that’s what he’s doing. As soon as he gets that back on track and he’s ready, he’ll be up here.”

Bochy acknowledged that Jung is “expanding” the strike zone, without describing precisely where. Jung had swung at 53 of the 87 pitches he’d seen since being demoted, an astonishingly high rate of 60.9%. Of those 53 swings, the majority were on pitches deemed out of the strike zone by MLB’s Statcast. He had swung at 14 pitches deemed inside and off the plate. He had one hit among those swings.

Bochy said he has looked at every at-bat and had spoken with GM Ross Fenstermaker and Triple-A manager Doug Davis about Jung, but admitted “he’s not quite there or he’d be here.”

In the meantime, it appears the Rangers will use platoons at both first base and left field. Tellez, who started on Friday, is a left-handed hitter and will face all right-handers. It’s possible he could face some lefties, too, but the Rangers have both right-handed Ezequiel Duran and just-recalled Justin Foscue there. If they choose to sit left-handed Josh Smith against some lefties, Duran could play third and Foscue first.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

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