ARLINGTON – Mired in the second-worst stretch of his career, Jake Burger will sit out of the Rangers starting lineup for at least two days, manager Skip Schumaker said Saturday.
Burger, who is hitting .130 with a .366 OPS over his last 18 games, was replaced in the lineup Saturday by Justin Foscue at first base. Burger’s season OPS has fallen to .604 with the latest stretch.
“I do think he’s getting closer,” Schumaker said. “He had some good at-bats in New York and just missed some balls [Friday]. I think his work is as good as anybody’s. I think he’s just trying to get some production and we need some production. He’s a hit or two away from getting extremely hot and carrying a team. That’s who he is. That’s how his career has been. We need that to happen. I mean, that’s it. He knows that. He’s aware. He knows what all the numbers are. So, getting him going is going to be a big part of, you know, us getting back on track.”
The Rangers cold streak does tie in closely with Burger’s. Over the course of the last 18 games heading into Saturday, the Rangers were 6-12 and averaging just 2.94 runs per game. Burger has had 21 plate appearances with runners in scoring position and has just one hit and one walk. He is hitless in his last 16 at-bats with RISP.
One at-bat Friday really underscored the recent skid. He came to the plate with two on and no outs after reliever Ryan Rolison walked the first two batters he faced. Burger took a pitch inside that was initially called a strike, but he immediately challenged it and won to flip the count to 1-0. Then he popped up on the next pitch, in the exact same location as the previous one.
“He probably wants that one at-bat back,” Schumaker said.
Schumaker knows the ebbs and flows of Burger’s streakiness. He was also his manager for his worst stretch in April-May of 2024 with Miami. That stretch lasted 20 games. But when it concluded, Burger followed with a 20-game stretch in which he hit .313/.353/.488/.841.