For Josh Jung, a return to the All-Star game would silence all his naysayers

If you didn't openly admit that you thought Texas Rangers' third baseman Josh Jung was on his way out of Arlington at some point over the last 12 months, then there's a chance you aren't being completely honest.

After a subpar 2024 and a disastrous 2025 season, everyone this side of Globe Life Field was calling for Jung's ouster, especially considering that he had made it to the All-Star game in his 2023 rookie season.

Well, Jung is a man on a mission in 2026. What is his goal? To tell all of us who doubted his talent to take a flying leap.

Jung's ready to shut up all the negativity

You have to give Jung a ton of credit for what he is doing almost six full weeks into the season, as he is playing the best ball of his four-year career.

The numbers speak for themselves. Entering Tuesday, Jung is hitting .322 with five homers and 20 RBIs. He also has 12 doubles, which is good for fifth-best in the league. His slugging percentage at .510 and .882 OPS is far and away above any clip he has turned in, including his 2023 all-star campaign.

After a 2025 season where he turned in a career-low slash of .251/.294/.390, fans, and the local press were ready to run him out of town on a rail and hand the job over to anyone who could hit .220 and not look completely lost in the box. Now, he is statistically the best two-strike hitter in the league.

If Jung can continue at a pace even close to what he has done so far, he will be headed to
Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14 as a two-time all-star. It would have to be one of the most satisfying achievements in the organization's history.

There is still work for Jung to do to get there

The All-Star Game is still two months away and voting for the midsummer classic has not even begun. Jung is going to have to continue to show what has been a much-improved plate approach and ability to reach pitches on the inner half of the dish and both pull them through the left side and hit for power to right-center field.

He's off to such a sizzling start that it is unlikely that he will continue at this rate, but if he can illustrate that his newfound command of the strike zone is here to stay, he can fall off of his current numbers and still make a case for being the best third baseman in the league.

It would be amazing to see Jung do a full 180-degree pivot and once again become the big right-handed bat that the Rangers need in the middle of their lineup. He has already been through so much in just three plus years, so we hope that Jung is truly a new hitter.

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