Rangers Lineup vs Yankees: Josh Jung Takes Another Big Batting Order Jump

The Texas Rangers have set their lineup to face Max Fried and the New York Yankees on Monday at Globe Life Field.

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers open their three-game series against the New York Yankees on Monday facing a left-hander on the mound.

The Rangers (14-14) have had trouble hitting left-handed pitching all season, even though they’ve only faced a handful of left-handed starters this season.

The Rangers are slashing .207/.283/.312 in 237 at-bats against left-handers this season. That includes four home runs and 23 RBI.

New York’s left-handed starter on Monday is Max Fried, and that’s going to be a tough matchup for the Rangers. Right-handed or left-handed hitting doesn’t matter to Fried. Batters are slashing .155/.219/.218, with a 10-point range in batting average from left-handers to right-handers. The personal matchups matter more for Texas on Monday.

Here’s the lineup and some matchups that may matter, including a new spot for Josh Jung in the batting order.

Rangers Lineup vs. Yankees on April 27

Jungle Cat Jimmy Jack for the lead! #AllForTX pic.twitter.com/tcFOzUT7NH

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 26, 2026

RF Brandon Nimmo (L)

3B Josh Jung

SS Corey Seager (L)

1B Jake Burger

DH Andrew McCutchen

C Kyle Higashioka

LF Sam Haggerty (S)

CF Evan Carter (L)

2B Ezequiel Duran

RHP Jack Leiter

Because Fried has spent most of his career in the National League, many Rangers hitters don’t have much experience against him. The batters with the most at-bats against him are hitters that also spent plenty of time in the NL. Brandon Nimmo is batting only .100 against Fried in 30 at-bats while Andrew McCutchen is batting .227 against him in 22 at-bats.

The batter with the best numbers against Fried is Duran, who is batting 1.000 in only two at-bats but has driven in two runs. Jung was not going to be benched as he’s the best batter in the order right now, but he’s .500 in two at-bats. But moving him to the No. 2 spot is a significant jump, considering he was batting at the bottom of the order just a couple of weeks ago. Putting him at the No. 2 spot is validation for his incredible April.

Other batters with good numbers against Fried include Smith (.333 and one RBI in three at-bats) and Haggerty (.286 with a home run and RBI in seven at-bats). Haggerty is the only player in the lineup with a home run off Fried.

The Rangers are one game behind the Athletics (15-13) in the AL West. The Seattle Mariners (14-15) have closed the gap in the division, 1.5 games back. The Los Angeles Angels (12-17) are 3.5 games back and the Houston Astros (11-18) are 4.5 games back.

The Yankees (18-10) lead the AL East by 1.5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays (16-11), five games over the Baltimore Orioles (13-15), 5.5 games over the Toronto Blue Jays (12-15) and seven games over the Boston Red Sox (11-17), the last of which turned over their coaching staff last weekend.