This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
KANSAS CITY -- Rangers third baseman Josh Jung was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on July 3, his first demotion since making his MLB debut in Sept. 2022.
At the time, the Rangers said he needed a reset. It was easy to see why. He was hitting just .237 with a .649 OPS. Jung was recalled just weeks later, seemingly straightened out, but it hasn't been smooth sailing since.
In his first 10 games after being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock, Jung slashed .382/.447/.647. But he’s gone 2-for-16 in his past five games and is hitting.143 (5-35) with two walks over his last 10 games to drop his season average from .252 to .241.
And to top it all off, he’s been on the bench for three straight days during the most critical part of the 2025 season for the Rangers.
Manager Bruce Bochy said on Monday, ahead of Texas’ series-opening loss in Kansas City, that he was putting the best lineup together that would give the Rangers a chance to win. And that day, it included rookie Cody Freeman -- he of six total MLB games -- starting at third base.
“There's been a lot of volatility with Josh and there’s times when he's dialed in and the performance is strong,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said. “But when it hasn't been as dialed in, it's been a little bit more undisciplined and just inconsistent. Given that way our team and the way a lot of guys have struggled this year, you can only tolerate so much volatility.”
Jung, a 2019 first-round Draft pick (No. 8 overall), has long been seen as a cornerstone of the organization. But a number of injuries have prevented him from a fully healthy season at all in his professional career until now.
The 27-year-old has shown who he can be at his best. During his rookie season in 2023, he was named an All-Star starter at third base en route to the club’s first World Series championship.
But he’s also shown that the lows can be low, like that option back in July.
“He's at a point in his career we believe he can take that next step into being a very good Major League hitter,” Young said. “The best hitters in the game are not super volatile. They'll go through little swoons, but their peaks and valleys are not steep. Josh has been steep this year.
“We need to see improvement in terms of his ability to -- during the bad times -- still find a way to get on base and during the good times really impact the baseball and drive in runs and have a quality approach. That approach has kind of come and gone a little too much this year. He's got an opportunity here to finish strong and take that next step. And my hope is that he will.”
Young made sure to emphasize that this isn’t unique to Jung. Part of the reason the Rangers are chasing a number of teams in the AL Wild Card race is because multiple players have struggled with that consistency this season.
But when things aren’t going great, they all still have to find a way to contribute, whether that’s getting on base via walk or putting together productive outs.
“I always think there's times in your career where you have a year like Josh has had,” Bochy said. “He's been optioned down, and he’s getting a little break. You have to find a way to be a little bit more consistent and stay out of those peaks and valleys that he gets in.
“This will be a learning experience for Josh and what adjustments you make at the plate to keep that from happening. That's going to be critical for him. He's going to have a great career. He's a tremendous talent. He can do a lot of great things, defensively, offensively. He's done a lot of good things already.”