The Rangers' offense continues to roll except for Josh Jung

The podcast 'Shan and RJ' dives into the Texas Rangers' strong offensive start to the 2026 season, highlighting Jake Berger's breakout performance as a true cleanup hitter, with a .471 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, and .882 slugging percentage through four games. The hosts praise Jack Leiter’s dominant pitching, including his willingness to go deep into games—a rare trait in today’s game—and celebrate the team’s 5-2 win over Baltimore. However, the episode pivots sharply to criticism of Josh Jung’s struggles, who is 0-for-17 with no fly balls hit and a violent, looping swing that’s become a source of frustration. The hosts express concern over the team’s high strikeout rate—45 in four games, on pace to shatter the single-season record—while acknowledging the broader trend of modern baseball favoring strikeouts over contact. They debate whether the 'tough out' philosophy under Skip Schumacher is effective, especially when it leads to 33% of outs being strikeouts without advancing runners. The discussion also turns to the Rangers' rotation, with the hosts strongly disagreeing with Sports Illustrated’s ranking of the team’s pitching as sixth, arguing they should be in the top four, especially with elite arms like Cole and Rodon returning. They slam the Tigers and Red Sox rotations as overrated, calling out players like Sonny Gray and Dylan Cease as underperformers and overpaid.