The Rangers introduced at the moment that they’ve reinstated infielder Jake Burger from the 10-day injured checklist. Fellow infielder Josh Jung has been optioned to Triple-A Spherical Rock because the corresponding transfer, the primary time in his profession he’s been optioned to the minors.
The transfer highlights what a troublesome time Jung has been having of late. Because the calendar flipped to June, he has produced an terrible .158/.208/.221 slash line in 101 plate appearances. His 19 wRC+ in that point is the third-worst mark within the majors, forward of simply Brenton Doyle and Michael Harris II.
“He retains working, however I don’t know what else to let you know,” supervisor Bruce Bochy mentioned this week, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning Information. “If it’s, , one other break, and you need to do it, it’s a performance-based recreation, as we all the time say. We’ve bought to discover a strategy to rating runs. … We do have some choices if now we have to provide a man a break.”
The dearth of efficiency was naturally not misplaced on Jung himself. “I haven’t been superb,” he mentioned on Monday, per Grant. “It’s been the worst (month) ever. I’m simply making an attempt to remain in my routine and make changes. It’s a day by day grind, day by day battle, however I’m doing the whole lot I can. It’s irritating. It’s exhausting. However this recreation isn’t simple. It’s simply me versus me proper now.”
Grant additionally relays that the membership desires Jung to work on fastballs up-and-in, a pitch that he hasn’t been in a position to lay off of, with one of many worst charges within the majors for swinging at such pitches outdoors the strike zone.
It’s a stark distinction to Jung’s earlier work. The eighth total decide within the 2019 draft, Jung bought a cup of espresso within the majors in 2022. He bought a fuller alternative in 2023 and ran with it, hitting .266/.315/.467 in 122 video games. He then hit .308/.329/.538 in 17 postseason video games, serving to the Rangers win their first title in franchise historical past. Final 12 months, a proper wrist fracture restricted him to 46 video games however he nonetheless put up a stout .264/.298/.421 line when on the sphere. Right here in 2025, he was doing tremendous earlier than the month of June, as he was sporting a .277/.321/.440 line on the finish of Might.
It appears doable that the ebook is out on him, which has led to his aforementioned struggles with these up-and-in fastballs. That’s been one half of a bigger team-wide lack of offense this 12 months, because the Rangers have a collective .228/.296/.366 batting line. Their 87 wRC+ is just higher than 4 groups: the Royals, Pirates, White Sox and Rockies. Ezequiel Durán performed third final evening and is in there once more tonight. He’s been even worse than Jung, with a .145/.229/.226 line this 12 months, however the Rangers are in all probability hoping that Jung can rapidly discover his type and retake the job.
How that performs out might influence the membership’s deadline plans. They’re at the moment 42-44 and a couple of.5 video games again of a playoff spot within the American League. If they will hold within the race and Jung remains to be struggling, maybe the membership would look to exterior third base choices, or they might maybe transfer Josh Smith over to the recent nook and depart Burger in command of first base. That will open the designated hitter spot for the return of Joc Pederson or another person on the roster. There are a number of shifting items there and the state of affairs might change in a number of alternative ways within the coming weeks.
For Jung personally, the size of this rehab task might influence him professionally. He got here into this 12 months with two years and 27 days of service time. By my rely, he has added 97 days up to now this 12 months, getting him to 2.124. That’s 48 days shy of the three-year mark. If he’s recalled by the center of August, he might nonetheless recover from the three-year line earlier than the offseason. If not, then his path to free company could be pushed by a 12 months. As of now, he might have sufficient service time to qualify for arbitration as a Tremendous Two participant, relying on the place this 12 months’s cutoff finally falls. Any service time he might add later within the 12 months would enhance his probabilities of qualifying for arb, whereas hitting the three-year line would assure it.
Pictures courtesy of Jerome Miron and Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Pictures
