MLB names former All-Star, World Series champ as bounce-back candidate for Rangers

MLB.com's Texas Rangers beat reporter Kennedi Landry named third baseman Josh Jung as a 2026 bounce-back candidate.

Jung has long been seen as a cornerstone of the organization. But injuries have plagued much of his career before a mostly healthy 2025 led to a career-high 131 games. However, in those games, he hit just .251/.294/.390 with all career lows if you exclude his cup of coffee in September 2022 (26 games). His ‘25 also included an option back to Triple-A Round Rock for the first time since his MLB debut. New manager Skip Schumaker has challenged all his players to come into camp attempting to win a job and not just expecting to have one. Jung should respond well to that challenge and prove he’s still a key player for the Rangers.

Bounce-back season from Josh Jung could be key to reigniting Texas Rangers' struggling offense

In 2023, Jung made the American League (AL) All-Star team and posted 2.6 bWAR and a .266/.315/.467 (113 OPS+) slash line with 23 home runs and 70 RBI across 122 games en route to finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He also made a huge impact during Texas' World Series run that season, hitting .308/.329/.867 with three home runs, four doubles, one triple and eight RBI over 70 plate appearances in the playoffs.

As Landry pointed out, Jung has suffered various injuries during his MLB career, leading him to play in just 46 games in 2024, during which he hit .264/.298/.421 (108 OPS+) with seven home runs and 16 RBI across 188 plate appearances. Jung was finally healthy in 2025, but he wasn't as productive as Rangers fans had hoped.

Despite holding an OPS below .700 last year, Jung's OPS+ was exactly 100, meaning he was a league-average hitter. Still, he needs to step up his game at the plate if he wants to continue being the Rangers' starting third baseman.

Jung doesn't have to be Texas' best hitter to be a productive player, as he is a strong defender at third base, as displayed by his five Outs Above Average (89th percentile) from last season. If Jung can just improve his OPS+ to 110 or higher, he'd help improve the Rangers' offense significantly.