Rangers Utility Star Admits Chasing Wrong Thing Led to Second Half Struggles

Josh Smith has been one of the better stories for the Texas Rangers over the past two seasons. He became a versatile utility man who plays everywhere and makes it work. But there's been one thing Rangers fans have watched with frustration: once August rolls around, Smith tends to disappear at the plate.

In 2024, Smith slashed .293/.392/.469 in the first half, then dropped to .215/.265/.300 after the All-Star break. Last season, the same thing played out: a strong .277/.353/.416 first half gave way to a .208/.306/.286 finish over his final 60 games. Two years, same cliff.

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In an interview with 105.3 The FAN's Kevin Hageland and Cory Mageors, Smith opened up about manager Skip Schumaker's advice to "chase winning" amid his second-half struggles. What came out was a surprisingly honest look at what had been going wrong in his head.

Smith said he had actually seen Schumaker's "chase winning" clip before and it landed.

"I saw that and I was like, that's a really good point because if you're trying to win the game, whatever happens, happens, but you can at least go home and say, hey, I did everything I could," he said.

During Rangers 2B Josh Smith's interview with @OThankKevin and @inthemageors, he was asked about Skip Schumaker's advice "to chase winning" amid his second-half struggles pic.twitter.com/x3anpwAqse
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) March 5, 2026

The problem, he explained, was that he had been doing the opposite. Rather than letting bad games go, he was carrying them.

"I would always kind of focus on, oh, I had a terrible game and then just kind of spiral into the next. And so you're chasing feelings and stuff like that. But yeah, if you're chasing winning, I think that's all that matters in this game," Smith said.

What Josh Smith's Mindset Shift Means for the Rangers in 2026

Smith logged starts at nearly every position except pitcher and catcher in 2025. Bad games were never far away. The issue was never the workload. It was what he did with a rough one mentally, and by his own admission, he was not handling it well.

That matters even more now. With Marcus Semien gone, Smith is the leading internal candidate to start at second base in 2026, with Ezequiel Duran, Cody Freeman and others also in the mix. Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young has said the job is there to be won.

First-half Josh Smith is a legitimate everyday player. The Rangers need that version to stick around past July this time, and it sounds like Smith has finally figured out what was getting in the way.