After winning the World Series in 2023, the Texas Rangers have since struggled to find a way to win consistently. 

After finishing with an 80-82 record this season, the Rangers now have a three-year streak of not only missing the playoffs, but failing to post a record above .500. Sure, their Hall-of-Fame-caliber manager Bruce Bochy is no longer in the clubhouse, but many of the high-level contributors that were on the 2023 team remain and are playing at a solid level.

Major League Baseball is a sport that is capable of introducing parity each season, but, interestingly, Texas has not been able to recapture the magic that made it such a force to deal with three years ago. Again, many high-level contributors from the World Series team are still in the building, and one such player is Josh Jung.

The 2026 season was Jung's fifth on the Rangers’ major-league roster after they drafted him with the eighth overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft. In many ways, his year was a very good one.

Jung, 28, appeared in 104 games for Texas and logged 398 total at-bats, in which he posted a .299 batting average, a .365 on-base percentage, a .462 slugging percentage and an .827 OPS. 

His batting average, on-base percentage and OPS were all career highs, though he did see his home run total drop from 14 in 2025 to 12 in 2026. His RBI total also dropped from 61 to 42, which can largely be attributed to playing 27 fewer games. 

There are elements of Jung's game that were much more productive in the Rangers' 2023 World Series season. For example, he hit a career-high 23 home runs in 122 games and logged 70 RBIs, numbers that he has failed to reach since then. 

On the flip side, he also struck out more than he ever has during that season. It's clear that Jung has grown as a player, but it is interesting to see that, in some categories, like other players on the team, he surged in the Rangers’ title season but has not reached some of those heights since.

Jung played the 2026 season on a one-year, $2.9 million deal to avoid arbitration, but he is not always going to be that affordable. Given Jung’s production, it would make sense for him to be in Texas’ plans for the future, especially if it wants to keep a player who is still in their prime while providing championship pedigree.