As Texas Rangers set out on critical stretch, they do it with 3B Josh Jung on the bench

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Their season already wobbling precariously on the precipice, the Rangers began a do-or-die week Monday.

They began it with Josh Jung on the bench.

For a second straight day.

There is no lingering injury. And nobody was even bothering to call it a “reset.” For the moment, the Rangers simply believed Cody Freeman, with all of five games of major league experience, was a better option at third base in a pair of critical games than the guy who was supposedly the signpost for a more productive draft and development program. Instead, Jung stands as more of an indictment of an offense that is getting worse by the year, not better. With or without him, the Rangers weren’t very good Monday in a 4-3 loss to Kansas City. Freeman went 0 for 4.

Rangers

“There’s been a lot of volatility with Josh,” Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Monday before the Rangers began a four-game series at Kansas City, the team 1 ½ games ahead of them for fifth place in the wild card race. “There are times when he’s dialed in and the performance is strong, but when it hasn’t been as dialed in, it’s been a little bit more undisciplined. And just inconsistent.

“Given the kind of team our team is and the way a lot of guys have struggled this year, you can only tolerate so much volatility.”

Young chose his words carefully, but still spoke directly. He was saying that Jung, like too much of the Rangers lineup, doesn’t walk enough, aggressively chases too often and, as such, becomes a non-contributor when he’s not on a heater at the plate. The best players? In slumps, they will walk. They will take longer plate appearances. Their OBP and OPS numbers will not vary wildly.

Just consider the last 20 games of his season, the first year in which he’s been healthy enough to start this late in the season. In one 10-game stretch, which coincided with his return from a minor league demotion, he slashed .382/.447/.647/1.094. He followed it with this line over the 10 games leading to his benching: .143/.189/.200/.389/. He’s hardly the only streaky player on the roster, but his highs and lows may vary more wildly.

“The best hitters are not super volatile,” Young said. “They will go through little swoons, but their peaks and valleys are not very steep. Josh’s are a bit steep this year and we need to see improvement in terms of his ability [to contribute] during bad times. So, find a way to get on base, and, during the good times, really impact and drive in runs. The approach has kind of come and gone a little too much this year. He’s got an opportunity to finish strong and take the next step. My hope is that he will.”

Texas Rangers' Josh Jung reacts after taking a swing at a pitch during an at-bat in a...

Texas Rangers’ Josh Jung reacts after taking a swing at a pitch during an at-bat in a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Friday, July 25, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Tony Gutierrez / AP

Because right now, the trend is that as high as the peaks are, they aren’t enough to offset the valleys. In his first full season in the majors, he slashed .266/.315/.467/.781. As a starting point, that’s a great set of numbers. The problem: The numbers have regressed in each of the last two years, to .719 around a fractured wrist last year and .667 for 2025 entering the week. Every category of his slash line has decreased year over year.

What hasn’t changed much is the rate at which he swings at pitches out of the zone and the rate at which he strikes out. He’s striking out 25.5% of the time, the exact same pace as 2024. He’s swinging at pitches out of the zone with more frequency than ever before. It was 33.5% in his rookie year, dropped slightly last year and is up to 34.5% this season. Of the 223 players with at least 300 plate appearances this year, he ranks 41st in swing percentage outside the zone. He can’t afford to be that aggressive.

Over the last two years, his .293 OBP makes him one of three Rangers with at least 500 plate appearances for the team and a sub-.300 OBP. Jonah Heim (.266) and Adolis García (.277) are worse. The Rangers have almost certainly already made decisions on the latter two. Neither is likely to return next year for their final seasons of arbitration eligibility. Too expensive for too little production. Jung will be entering arbitration for the first time.

Jung is hardly the only problem the Rangers’ offense has had this year — or the last two. As a team, they are still ineffective on the road, against winning teams, against lefties or the four-seam fastball. A two-year sample isn’t just a trend; it’s a full-blown problem. All of which the Rangers will have to address this winter. But right now they’ve got a race to try to crawl back into.

They just aren’t committed to Josh Jung being in the lineup at this critical moment.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

Texas Rangers’ loss reiterates disturbing trends that now stretch back two seasons