To say that the 2025 season has not gone according to plan for Joc Pederson and Josh Jung would be a major understatement. But at least for one night, all was right in the world for both of them, being as productive as the Texas Rangers envisioned they would be heading into the season. Pederson and Jung came up huge for the Rangers on Monday against the New York Yankees, hitting the game-tying home run and a three-run walk-off dinger to power Texas to an 8-5 victory.
Considering how much adversity those two have already battled in 2025, them remaining major contributors for the Rangers to rely on seemed rather asinine. But the Rangers' faith in the two paid off, at least in the form of one emphatic victory. And Jon Gray, who has also battled his fair share of adversity himself (on the injury front), gave the two the flowers they deserved for showing up when the team needed them the most.
“That’s going to define our ballclub. Those guys have a ton of fight and they’re going to contribute. Better now than never,” Gray said after the Rangers' win, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com.
The Rangers moved to 59-55 on the season with that win over the Yankees. Alas, if the season ended today, they would not be making the playoffs, as they are currently behind three teams (Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, and Yankees) in the Wild Card race.
But as Gray said, it's better for both Pederson and Jung to show up now instead of when they could no longer do anything about their season.
Joc Pederson and Josh Jung to turn it around for the Rangers?
The Rangers went out of their way to sign Pederson to a two-year, $37 million contract in free agency. But all they were rewarded with was the worst season of the slugging lefty's career. Prior to his heroics for the Rangers on Monday, Pederson was slashing .126/.256/.217 in 2025 — with his poor play being worth -1.0 WAR (per Fangraphs).
Pederson was coming off a 2024 campaign in which he slashed .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs and 64 runs batted in, so for him to fall off a cliff was a bit unforeseen. But he might be yet to turn it around for the Rangers.
Meanwhile, Jung has struggled quite immensely from the plate in 2025 — even earning himself a demotion to the minors earlier in the year. He was slashing .249/.297/.385 before he came up clutch against the Yankees. Perhaps this vaults the 27-year-old back to form.
