Josh Jung's sizzling Rangers breakout season comes with an unexpected drawback

Josh Jung has been the most pleasant surprise of the Texas Rangers' 2026 season. After a tumultuous 2025 that saw him demoted to Triple-A Round Rock and subsequently benched due to poor performance at the dish, he is currently the most likely Ranger to be tabbed as an all-star and possibly the American League Comeback Player of the Year.

The one thing that has rarely wavered is his rock-solid level of defensive play at third base. Regardless of how he's hitting (or not hitting), he is as reliable as they come at the hot corner. This season, however, as he ascended offensively, his defense has been particularly porous, which is something no one expected.

For as good as Josh Jung has been with the bat, his glove has been an underrated Rangers' concern

These two stats tell you all you need to know about how disparate Jung has been offensively versus defensively: he's fourth among all MLB third basemen in wRC+ with a 139 mark, but dead last in defensive runs saved, coming in at minus-8.

Those are fancy, advanced stats that tell you that he's been on fire at the plate, but statistically, the worst defensive 3B in the league. If you've watched the Rangers consistently this season, you don't even need those numbers to know that Jung hasn't flashed the leather as he has in the past. Balls are getting by him on plays that he normally makes to look routine.

Uncharacteristically, Jung has committed three errors in just 60 games. You may be saying, "Well, that's some serious nitpicking", but wait. By way of comparison, in his rookie season of 2023, he committed just four errors in 121 games. and led MLB with a .988 fielding average.

No matter how you slice it, Jung hasn't been nearly as sharp with the glove thus far in 2026. Does it cancel out what he is doing offensively? No, not by any stretch. But it is an area in which he can improve upon and become the complete player that the Rangers believed they had when he finished 4th in the ROY voting in his rookie season.

While it's likely just a concentration issue, eventually his less-than-average play at third may end up costing the team when the games become more important down the line.

As for Jung, his bat has been so good that it has more than offset that league-worst defensive performance. With that said, this is an issue worth monitoring. If he doesn't get it together in the field soon and his bat falls off a bit (even if he's still hitting at an above-average rate), we could arrive at a point where the bad cancels out the good, and we're left yet again with an asset that doesn't hold much value. That can't happen if the Rangers want to prove they can contend down the stretch.

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