Injured Rangers Infielders Now Face Different Roster Paths This Spring

Josh Jung and Justin Foscue both have injuries that will keep them out for at least 10 days. Now, their paths to opening day likely diverge.

Jung is dealing with a Grade 1 adductor strain. Foscue has a hamstring strain. In talking about both injuries, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker seemed more optimistic about Jung being ready for opening day than Foscue making the opening day roster. But he didn’t rule the latter out.

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“There’s plenty of time,” he said. “There are a lot of guys that aren’t even playing yet.”

The Paths of Josh Jung and Justin Foscue

Texas Rangers first baseman Justin Foscue prepares to field a baseball. — Texas Rangers first baseman Justin Foscue. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

It may be nothing more than the fact that Jung is an established everyday player who has a set position and that Foscue is fighting for a roster spot. But Schumaker was far less willing to hedge his bets on Jung’s availability for opening day on March 26 in Philadelphia.

Assuming Jung returns after 10 days, as hoped, Schumaker said it would give him two weeks to ramp up and get ready, which he believed was plenty of time. What he lamented was the timing, even though it’s a month away from opening day.

“He’s such a hard worker and I think he’s going to get back quicker than 14 days. He was in such a good process. I felt like his work in the cages and on the back fields and the lives were just about to translate on the field. I mean his first couple of games he hit the ball as hard as anyone.”

The former first-round pick out of Texas Tech has a career slash of .255/.298/.426 with 49 home runs and 161 RBI. He was coming off a 2025 season in which he was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for a few weeks to work on his plate approach, which improved. He slashed .251/.294/.390 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI but batted .271 after the demotion.

For Foscue, the path ahead feels different. He’s only played in 19 games in the Majors and has slashed .059/.094/.098. The emphasis in spring training has been for him to prove that he can hit left-handed pitching, and he was showing early in spring training that he was growing into that role.

But the Rangers also needed him to show he could play multiple positions, including the outfield. This injury sets him back to some degree. Schumaker said he could put in that work on the back fields once he returns, along with extra batting practice. He said Foscue would likely need about five days of ramp-up on the back fields before playing in spring training games.

Foscue will miss out on something that Schumaker was hoping he could capitalize on the next couple of weeks.

“That would have been a lot of at-bats for him just because of the WBC, with JJ [Jung] having some time off and [Cody] Freeman being hurt, that definitely would have opened up more at-bats this spring,” Schumaker said. “It doesn’t change anything as far as his chances. He’s just going to lose at-bats, which sucks.”