Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker (55) in the first inning of a baseball game Monday, May 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
David Zalubowski/AP Photo/David Zalubowski
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Rangers left Globe Life Field with a record one game under .500. They’ll return with a record four games under .500.
It must’ve been quite the slate of opponents.
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You know what, on second thought, let’s just get right to this week’s installment of five things that we learned.
Road trip blues
The best way to process a relatively unproductive road trip?
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The Rangers lost six of nine games to three teams who began the trek with the three worst records in baseball. They lost two games to the Houston Astros, one in which they were no-hit through seven-plus innings, to start it. They lost one to the Colorado Rockies, in a game decided by defensive follies, in the middle. They were swept by the Los Angeles Angels in an ugly finish when their ace allowed a season-high amount of runs, their offense stranded the bases loaded four different times and some middle infield mayhem led to perhaps their ugliest finish to any game yet this season.
They started the road trip tied for the third American League Wild Card berth. They ended it a game-and-a-half back. If the league weren’t so middling this season — and, boy, it sure is — the Rangers might’ve taken a bigger hit.
The tune would be a tad different if they recorded a few more of this this last week.
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The wild ride of Justin Foscue
Foscue, the club’s first-round draft choice six years ago, was and remains a bat-first prospect. The two-and-a-half week sample size since his recent promotion — one in which he’s slashed .318/.367/.523 with five extra base hits — explains why the Rangers have given the 27 year old another big league runway after his first two seasons yielded empty figures.
The rest has been a reminder that baseball is, indeed, not necessarily a bat-first sport.
Foscue has swung his well, but in this window, he’s done a near equal amount of damage in the game’s other phases. He’s been picked off at first base twice in a one-week span in critical situations. He collided with shortstop Corey Seager on a pop fly effort. He made an error in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Angels that changed a would-be double play into an error that allowed the walk-off run to score.
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His offensive production, coupled with the infield injury-induced absences that the Rangers must now navigate, may be enough to keep him in the lineup while the team around him heals up. His ability to clean up his defense and base path decisions will determine how he fits into the mix once the regulars return.
The pinch hitting problem
Schumaker insisted early and often into his tenure that he’ll utilize his bench this season. The Rangers have in turn taken the fourth-most pinch hit at-bats in baseball this season. The thought process behind the decisions — one where the plan is to maximize each individual moment and exploit advantages when possible — may be inherently necessary with a below-league-average offense.
The issue is in the results, and more specifically, the options that exist to produce those results. The Rangers have hit .166 in pinch hit situations this season. That ranks within the bottom third league wide and is 40 points below league average. Designated hitter Andrew McCutchen and outfielder Sam Haggerty — both of whom are on the roster to hit left-handed pitchers — are a combined 3 for 28 in pinch hit situations and have taken nearly half of the at-bats in those scenarios.
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In Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Angels, with a runner at second base in the seventh inning, Schumaker chose to pinch hit McCutchen against a right-handed pitcher when he could’ve outfielder Alejandro Osuna against a left-handed pitcher given the fact that the Angels would’ve gone after either player’s perceived weakness with their bullpen. McCutchen, who is 6 for 27 (.222) against righties this season, was a better match up play than Osuna, who is 3 for 17 (.176) all time against southpaws.
McCutchen struck out on four pitches and didn’t swing at any.
Schumaker’s ability to wield his bench is limited with shortstop Corey Seager, left fielder Wyatt Langford and second baseman Josh Smith each on the injured list. It’s forced their best bench options like infielder Ezequiel Duran and Osuna into the lineup on a regular basis. The Rangers will need to win on the margins offensively this season should the current trends continue. They’ll need better production from their reserve bats to do so.
The wrong kind of history for the Rangers
The Rangers started the three-game series against the Angels with their two aces on the mound in consecutive games. Right-hander Jacob deGrom allowed six earned runs and took the loss in the series opener. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi allowed three earned runs in took the loss in the second game.
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It was the first time in three-plus seasons as teammates that the two pitched on back-to-back days and were both tagged with a loss. It was only the second time that the Rangers lost in back-to-back games in which both pitched. The other was May 21-22, 2025 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees, though, had played for a World Series only seven months prior.
The Angels, well, did not.
Less is more for Josh Jung
It doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom, though, even as we begin this fifth though, the subject of it has a sore shoulder.
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Jung, who’s slashed .302/.357/.462 this season and leads the Rangers with 1.3 WAR per FanGraphs, has remained a bright spot in a lineup that has otherwise been lackluster. A conversation with Rangers hitting coach Justin Viele has helped unlock even more.
“I told him I’m not allowed to watch video anymore,” Jung said. “I make stuff up all the time. That’s just typical, right? You try to find the answer for why you’re struggling or why you’re not getting results. It’s really easy to watch video and be like ‘oh, well, my back elbow is doing X, Y and Z.’ [Viele] looks at it and goes ‘I don’t see it.’ You’re literally looking for a reason why things aren’t going your way.”
Jung said that he stopped watching videos of his swing at the end of the Houston series. He’ll only watch clips now in games to understand how pitchers have attacked him.
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“If I think there’s something, I’ll just ask [Viele], and he’ll check it out,” Jung said. “If it’s not there, he’ll be like, ‘you’re being stupid, stop.'”