ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Skip Schumaker gave Justin Foscue a call right before Spring Training.
Schumaker, who was named the Rangers’ new manager months prior, wanted the infielder to know that 2026 could be a fresh start for him. A clean slate. Foscue entered the season just 3-for-51 (.059) in his limited big league appearances, including a brutal 0-for-39 skid to end ‘24. If anybody needed a clean slate, it was him.
Foscue was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday after a glute strain sidelined second baseman Josh Smith. On Friday night, Foscue collected his first hit of the season on a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth inning.
And on Saturday, he launched his first career home run, a solo shot off Edward Cabrera in the Rangers’ 6-0 win over the Cubs at Globe Life Field.
Foscue, the Rangers’ 2020 first-round pick out of Mississippi State, has been open about the toll his first taste of the big leagues took on him. After all, he’s got an .865 career OPS in the Minors, where he’s done nothing but rake at every level.
But things kept getting in his way at the top.
“I wasn't in the right head space mentally,” Foscue said last week after his callup. “Once the streak really started, I had a lot of anxiety coming to the field, just really with my identity. That's gone now. I'm really confident in who I am. I'm pretty confident in myself now to come off the bench whenever my number is called.
“If I were to start, I'm pretty comfortable with myself now to kind of know the differences in the way I need to prepare.”
Pressed more about the mental toll of such a slump, Foscue paused before continuing. It didn’t exactly get in his head, per se. But it was hard to ignore at a particular point.
“I wouldn't say it was just the streak,” he said. “But being in the big leagues has been a dream of mine since I was little. It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to go, and that really took a toll on me. The hard part about it is everybody here knows it. It's part of me, it's part of my history in the big leagues. I'm ready to get past that. It is behind me.
“It goes back to my identity as a person and finding ways to get past that and changing the narrative. I know whenever I get a full opportunity, I'll be a really good big leaguer. I haven't really had a runway to do that, and I'm not complaining about that. I'm grateful for the opportunity right now.”