Josh Jung has just struck out.
The Rangers rookie walks dejectedly back from the home-plate area. His head is down, maybe he's muttering some unchoice words under his breath. Maybe he's silent. He shoves his bat back into the rack and his helmet into its cubby.
The third baseman gazes back at the field, takes a deep breath and then does something, well, a bit different.
Something that no other ballplayer does, but something that's helped him for years after a bad play or bad at-bat. Something that helps him forget about it. Something that gets rid of it.
"I'll literally go to the bathroom and flush the toilet," Jung told me in a recent interview. "Right outside of our dugout or wherever we are. Just to try and clear my head and say, 'Hey, it's over and you can't change it. No reason to dwell on it.'"
Flushing away bad plays or strikeouts is just a small part of Jung's intense mental approach to baseball -- an aspect of the game he's been working on since he was 11 years old.
"There were these coaching conventions that my dad would go to every year," Jung said. "Brian Cain was there giving his take on the mental side of the game and my dad kinda fell in love with it."
From his middle-school years to high school to his time as a top Rangers prospect to now, Jung has worked with Cain and followed his teachings. One main component during the 162-game, high-pressure grind is to not think about baseball at all. To completely clear his head. Before or after games.
"It's just clearing the mind, going for a walk or listening to music," Jung said. "Just shutting your brain off from thinking about performance. From thinking about baseball."
Pregame, the 25-year-old will routinely go into meditation mode by use of the Calm app. He'll throw on a pair of headphones and find a quiet place in the field or clubhouse sauna. It's a time he can concentrate on his upcoming task with zero distractions.
"I can close my eyes and just try to envision success that day against the starter."
Mantras are also an important part of Jung's process; sayings like "Be water" or "Leave no doubt." As reported by MLB.com's Kennedi Landry during Spring Training, Jung even has a vision board with a motivational quote from an Oscar-winning movie.
“I have, like, ‘Are you not entertained?’ [from the movie ‘Gladiator’] with a question mark on there,” Jung said. “I have an internal thought and question to myself to kind of put on a show. Not necessarily be cocky and all that, but for myself, like go out there and leave it all on the field.”
And Jung will, at times, voice these mantras or words of encouragement to his bats. Yes, he'll talk to his bats.
"Oh yeah," Jung said. "So with the pitch clock, that's kind of negated that whole thing because you have like five seconds to get in the box. But I still do try and reiterate my approach to myself. I'm still trying to figure out my routine, because my routine used to be a little more extensive in college. ... The big thing for me is having a focal point to refocus, move on. I gotta win this pitch, the last pitch doesn't matter."
And if he does end up making an out or going down on strikes, that's where the toilet comes into play. Once he flushes, that bad feeling is gone. He's released it. Jung actually used to have a small Styrofoam version that he could keep in the dugout, but that's at home now. He says his Rangers teammates don't really know about his toilet habit yet -- they might just think he has to go to the bathroom a lot.
"The all-hydrated team," Jung said, laughing.
Although he's currently on the IL after surgery on a fractured thumb, Jung has turned in a fantastic year for a great Rangers team: He made the AL All-Star team, holds a .274/.323/.489 slash line and is third on his squad with 22 homers. He's also shined on the defensive side of the ball.
Sure, his on-field skillset is obvious -- and has been since he was a young phenom coming out of San Antonio -- but it's his baseball mindfulness, his moments of self-reflection and self-correction, that may put him over the top.
"It's the sixth tool that can separate you," Jung told me. "When you get to this stage of the game and you're at the highest level, everyone's got talent. This is what's gonna separate you."
Matt Monagan is a writer for MLB.com.