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Rangers Notes: Josh Jung Changes Narrative Again with Latest Home Run

The Texas Rangers fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but their third baseman’s hot bat just kept on going.
Matt Postins|
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung.
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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Texas Rangers

Since April started, Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung has been on a tear. Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates was the latest proof.

The Rangers entered this nine-game homestand with a .200 batting average as a team. Worse, they only had two home runs, one of which was hit by Joc Pederson, which ended a 0-for-16 slump to start the season. Pederson was on base on Wednesday when Jung stepped to the plate for the first time and slammed an 87.5 mph hanging curveball from Pirates starter Brandon Ashcraft into the right field stands for his third home run of the season.

The home run was notable for a few reasons. First, it was the Rangers’ third home run at Globe Life Field, where Texas has struggled to create offense early. Second, it was Jung’s second opposite field home run of the season. In fact, none of his three home runs have been pulls to left field, as he’s shown off more ability to go to the opposite field. Third, at the time, it pushed his batting average above .300 for the second time in five days.

Consider that Jung entered April without a hit and was benched twice in Baltimore and it’s a stunning turnaround. But why?

The Rangers sent him to Triple-A last July because they wanted him to change his approach at the plate. It seems to be taking now. His chase rate, his whiff percentage, his strikeout rate and his walk rate were among the lowest on the team. Nearly a month into the season, he’s shown significant improvement, even with the 0-fer start in March per Statcast:

Chase Rate: 33.2% to 31.1%

Whiff Rate: 25.4% to 18.9%

Strikeout Rate: 25.2% to 17.5%

Walk Rate: 5.3% to 8.8%

In spring training, Jung was getting raves from the coaching staff about the contact he was making with the baseball. Entering Wednesday’s game, he had a hard-hit percentage of 55.9%. That was in the 93rd percentile.

Jung is chasing less, swinging and missing less, striking out less and walking more. He’s also knocking the cover off the ball more than half the time, even if it doesn’t result in a hit. That’s why he’s changed the narrative around the start to his season in less than a month.

Unfortunately, the Rangers fell, 8-4, as the Pirates exploded for four runs in the ninth inning.

The Plan Without Wyatt Langford

Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford gets high fives from his teammates after a home run
Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Rangers officially moved outfielder Wyatt Langford to the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain on Wednesday. This means he won’t be available to the Rangers until the road trip that starts on May 1 in Detroit. He believes that he won’t need more than the 10 days off.

Until then, the reps in left field will go to some combination of Ezequiel Duran, Alejandro Osuna, Sam Haggerty and Andrew McCutchen. Given how well he’s batted this season, most of those reps should go to Duran. With a string of right-handed pitching coming, the temptation will be to get Osuna more at-bats. But Texas’s only day game this homestand is on Sunday so this is a good chance to give Duran some daily run and see what he can handle.

This is the fifth time in his career that Langford has been moved to the injured list. None of the injuries have been serious. That’s the good news. The bad news is he keeps getting these minor injuries that limit his potential.

Proof GLF is a Pitcher’s Park

All the talk about the offense at Globe Life Field, there should be some recognition of how it’s now a pitcher’s park. In fact, it’s rather profound. From the Rangers’ game notes before Wednesday’s game:

Rangers pitchers have produced MLB-bests in ERA (1.86) and WHIP (0.90) at home this season, allowing a .194/.237/.272/.508 opponent slash line at GLF — the lowest OBP/SLG/OPS figures among MLB clubs at home in 2026.

Those numbers took a hit after Texas allowed eight runs on Wednesday.

Don’t Mess with Jake Burger Late

As Rangers Sports Network’s Jared Sandler pointed out, Rangers first baseman Jake Burger is one of the game’s best hitters in the final three innings of the game.

His two RBI single in the eighth tied the game at 4-4.

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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob Latz walks to the pitcher's mound before a game.
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob Latz. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

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Matthew Postins
MATT POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.

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