Jung eyes comeback campaign with skipper's backing

ARLINGTON -- Skip Schumaker wants Josh Jung to be feared.

The Rangers' new manager knows that Jung has the capability of being an All-Star once again. He’s done it once before, during his rookie season in 2023. But after two straight years of injuries and regression, he needs to find a way to regain that form.

“He's a big, physical kid that should be hitting for some slug,” Schumaker said at the Winter Meetings. “I think the message really is that I want him to be feared once again. I want him to be feared in the box. He's a third baseman on a team that's positioned to go to the playoffs and make a run at this thing. He should be feared whenever he gets in the box.”

Sounds simple enough. Jung got the message loud and clear.

“I’m just getting back in there, figuring things out, having fun,” Jung said. “I’ve been at the ballpark a lot, just ramping back up. We always joke around. It's like, no matter what you're working on, once you get to Spring Training, you face pitching and everything goes out the window, because now you’re actually getting tested. You just go in, you just try to shock the system, find the little things, work in the moment, and go from there. Other than that, though, it's just getting strong and staying healthy.”

But being feared is easier said than done.

The third baseman perhaps had one of the more tumultuous 2025 seasons for the Rangers. In a career-high 131 games, Jung slashed .251/.294/.390 with 14 home runs and 61 RBIs, all full-season career lows if you exclude his cup of coffee in September 2022 (26 games).

While 2025 was the healthiest season of Jung’s career, it came with more lows than highs -- the biggest being when he was optioned back to Triple-A Round Rock in July for the first time since his MLB debut.

Jung acknowledged that he needs to process those types of tough-love situations better by becoming more sound mentally. That’s only the first step to returning to All-Star form and being feared in the box as Schumaker desires of him.

And Jung himself will be a big part of any offensive turnaround the Rangers hope to have. Texas ranked 25th in wRC+ (92), 26th in slugging (.381), 26th in batting average (.234), 26th in on-base percentage (.302), 22nd in runs (684) and 23rd in walk rate (8%) in 2025.

It’s clear that Jung was not the only underperforming position player.

With a new manager in Schumaker and an additional hitting coach in Alex Cintron to join Justin Viele, Jung has gotten back in the lab, looking to replicate his All-Star 2023 season.

“It’s truly just getting back to being gritty and grindy in the box,” Jung said at a Winter Warm-Up event. “Just being a gritty, grindy player in the box again. That's part of just becoming a threat. Last year, there were times where I was not that. I was not being consistent. I need to get back to consistently hitting balls hard. That's truly it. That and hitting the pitches I like and being more careful. That's where the consistent approach comes in.”