{"id":414394,"date":"2026-08-23T05:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T05:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/414394\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T05:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T05:08:19","slug":"rangers-offense-looks-even-more-lost-without-josh-jung-in-the-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/414394\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers offense looks even more lost without Josh Jung in the lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers’ Josh Jung, who was placed third on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain, retroactive to Wednesday, looks on from the dugout during a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero<\/p>\n

ARLINGTON \u2014 It\u2019s all about perspective. On one hand, the Rangers’\u00a0struggling offense<\/a> failed to convert only one opportunity with a runner in scoring position Saturday. On the other, it was the only such opportunity they had. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So, another game came and went against the disruptive Los Angeles Angels and the Rangers managed to score no runs in nine innings. On Saturday, it was 3-0 with the Rangers\u2019 only hit coming on a sixth-inning single by Cody Freeman. He reached second with two outs on a Corey Seager walk. And then the inning ended on a Wyatt Langford dribbler. It made the Rangers 4 for 36 with runners in scoring position on this homestand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you are not scoring along at home, that\u2019s three straight games against those Angels<\/a> in which they\u2019ve failed to score in the first nine. It\u2019s now 33 innings of regulation baseball without a run against the Angels. The only runs the Rangers have scored against them since the third inning of an Aug. 13 loss came in extra innings on Friday. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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And while the streak against the Angels stands out, it\u2019s really been the case for all of August. Even longer, actually. The Rangers haven\u2019t been the same since Josh Jung exited the lineup<\/a> with a calf issue exactly a month ago. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to give ourselves a chance to play in October, the bats have to get going, and they know it,\u201d manager Skip Schumaker said. \u201cThis is nothing that they don’t know. There’s a bunch of pros in there that have been there before. Again, it’s not a lack of care or lack of effort, but we\u2019ve got to start producing here soon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Really, what more is there to say? Especially when there is no explanation for why the lineup, which has been inconsistent most of the year, has collectively gone ice cold ever since Jung went to the IL. Since he last played on July 21, the Rangers are hitting .217. They are scoring 3.14 runs per game. You could say the offense has pi on its face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bad news: There is no timetable for Jung to return<\/a>. For the second time since the injury, he has had to curtail attempts to run due to renewed soreness. He\u2019s not likely to run before the end of the Rangers\u2019 upcoming road trip that concludes Aug. 30. Even if everything after that goes fine, it\u2019s likely to be another week before he could potentially be ready to join the team. And after missing six or seven weeks, how long would it take him to return to form?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe miss our third baseman that had an .800 OPS and who has been a very consistent hitter throughout the year,\u201d Schumaker acknowledged. \u201cBut to say it\u2019s all on him, is not fair. We have plenty in that lineup that we threw out there today that should have been able to put up some runs. We just have some guys that aren\u2019t feeling good at the plate right now, collectively.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Of course, within that statement is the belief that a team that can go cold together can also get hot together. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Just consider the top of the Rangers\u2019 lineup on Saturday. Leadoff man Joc Pederson, who tried to color his way out of a slump by wearing two different cleats, batting gloves and sweatbands all designed by his two children, went hitless in three at-bats to extend his skid to 0 for 20. No. 3 hitter Wyatt Langford, who had a game-tying double on Friday, was 0 for 4 Saturday to extend his slump to 1 for 17. Brandon Nimmo, who struck out to end the game, has four hits in his last 39 at-bats. And those are the dangerous hitters in the Rangers\u2019 lineup. The only hot hitter in the top of the lineup has been Seager, but, after five straight multi-hit games, he was 0 for 3 on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lineup is also likely to be down another hitter, at least on Sunday. Jake Burger left the game after being hit squarely on the left wrist<\/a> with a fastball. He remained in the game for an inning, but the swelling made it too difficult to swing a bat. Schumaker said X-rays showed \u201cnothing yet,\u201d but there is likely to be a follow-up scan once the swelling subsides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re trying to win,\u201d Langford said. \u201cWe’re trying to get hits. Maybe [trying] to do a little too much instead of trying to get on base or trying to just have a good at-bat. We\u2019re all maybe trying to do it ourselves. It\u2019s a collective. I haven’t done a good job of it. Maybe just trying to be the one to get it done, instead of just having a good at-bat, trying to get on base and put the ball in play better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Right now, explanations are just like runs for this offense. Both are scarce.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Rangers’ Josh Jung, who was placed third on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,89744,89901,89900,89898],"class_list":["post-414394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-tp-texas-rangers","tag-tp-jake-burger","tag-tp-josh-jung","tag-tp-skip-schumaker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}