Jake Burger Sets Sights On Being More Consistent In 2026 For Rangers

If any Texas Rangers fan asked Jake Burger if he was happy with his 2025 season for the team, then they'd probably get a negative response.

Burger missed time at three different moments during the season for the Rangers. Injuries kept Burger from being a consistent presence in the Rangers lineup. He knows it and plans to do something about it when the Rangers enter the 2026 MLB season under new manager Skip Schumaker.

What did Burger think about his season? He was very matter-of-fact in his response.

"Very inconsistent," Burger said in an interview with MLB.com reporter Kennedi Landry. "That’s not who I am. I know that obviously I have to stay healthy. I feel like if I get 500 to 600 ABs a year, I'm gonna be right where I need to be. That just didn't happen this year. [There were] some good moments, some really ugly moments."

Burger, in his career, has a first-half slash line of .232/.277/.433. In the second half? Burger's slash line is .272/.330/.527. Burger knows that if he can get through the first half of a season in pretty good shape, then his second half almost becomes a lights-out moment.

He's already strategizing on how to make his first half as good, or better than, his second half.

"I do think in the last two years I've probably fallen into the trap -- starting in Spring Training -- of taking too many swings and doing too much," Burger told Landry. "I feel like I put together really good offseasons, and the first week of spring, I feel really good.

"The BP is electric, lives are good and then it kind of tapers off, because you're making minor tweaks, rather than just being like, 'Hey, that's what I did for 16 weeks, just keep grinding that out,'" Burger said. "Just trusting that process. So I think that's how I address that first month of the season."

Burger appears to have a steady outlook on his career. His level-headedness about how he approaches his hitting style probably will pay off in better at-bats for the Rangers. What Burger wants to do is make sure that his game plan toward opposing pitchers is a solid one. He knows that it's important to have a plan in place every game he's out there on the field.

"Two things: first, probably working on how I'm going to game-plan day in and day out," Burger said. "Just working on approaches. And also having at-bats where it's like, 'All right, work on your B swing here.' You're not feeling good today. Let's see how we work in that bat.

"And for me, I think it's not going down the mechanical rabbit hole when you're not feeling good," Burger said. "I think that's the biggest thing a lot of us, myself included, where you might not feel good for a week, but you know that your mechanics are still there, and you don't have to chase the rabbit, in a sense."

It's also worth noting that Schumaker had a season to see Burger play. Schumaker was a senior adviser to Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young in 2025. He probably has a different approach to managing and every other aspect of running a ballclub than Bruce Bochy did.

That's exactly what the Rangers' front office wants to see happen. 

Burger underwent successful wrist surgery when the 2025 regular season ended. 

Now the work begins at Spring Training. Maybe Burger is even tinkering on some things before he reaches Florida in a few months.

Getting the Rangers back into the MLB postseason is definitely a goal of not only Burger but Schumaker himself. A healthy Burger can make it a reality.