{"id":87552,"date":"2025-08-09T15:12:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T15:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552"},"modified":"2025-08-09T15:12:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T15:12:41","slug":"how-return-of-jake-burger-will-impact-rangers-first-base-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552","title":{"rendered":"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"Jul<\/picture><\/figure>\n
Jul 11, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger (21) bats during the game against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. \/ Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

ARLINGTON \u2014 Jake Burger returned to the Texas Rangers lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, serving as their designated hitter.<\/p>\n

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that he wanted to give Burger a bit of a breather after he went 4-for-6 in a rehab game with Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday.<\/p>\n

But the plan is for Burger to start at first base on Saturday as the Phillies throw another left-hander in Jesus Luzardo.<\/p>\n

More News: <\/strong>Rangers, Phillies Can\u2019t Avoid Aces in Pivotal Three-Game Showdown in Arlington<\/p>\n

What does that mean for the Rangers\u2019 rotation at first base?<\/p>\n

\n
<\/canvas>\"Texas<\/figure>\n

Aug 4, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Rowdy Tellez (44) in action during the game between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. \/ Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Burger will get the majority of starts at first base moving forward. That\u2019s his position. Nothing has changed.<\/p>\n

The move to activate Burger after he missed 20 games with a left quad strain was to option outfielder Alejandro Osuna to Round Rock.<\/p>\n

On Friday, that left Bochy with a bench of left-handed hitters \u2014 Joc Pederson, Rowdy Tellez and Josh Smith, along with switch-hitter Jonah Heim.<\/p>\n

In Burger\u2019s absence, Smith, Tellez, Pederson and Ezequiel Duran have all played first base. Duran started there on Friday as the only right-handed hitter with first base experience as the Rangers faced left-hander Cristopher Sanchez.<\/p>\n

Tellez would seem like the odd man out. But, Bochy believes there is still a place for him in the lineup under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll pinch-hit, he\u2019ll play first in some games against certain right-handers,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that can help out on the left side, along with Joc Pederson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pederson has played four games at first base for the Rangers and has 27 career games at the position.<\/p>\n

The Short-Handed Outfield<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
<\/canvas><\/figure>\n

Aug 4, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Ezequiel Duran (20) tosses the ball to first base during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field. \/ Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Osuna\u2019s option means the Rangers only have three healthy dedicated outfielders \u2014 Wyatt Langford, Sam Haggerty and Adolis Garcia. All three started on Friday and, with another left-hander on the mound, all three are likely to start again on Saturday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible Texas could work one of those outfielders out of the lineup for Sunday\u2019s game, which is an afternoon game after a night game.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of the reason Duran wasn\u2019t optioned. He, along with Smith, can play outfield. Plus, Evan Carter is on the injured list.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what you\u2019re going to see is [Smith] getting some left field reps out there,\u201d Bochy said.<\/p>\n

Smith is a likely platoon against right-handed hitters, moving Langford to center field. But Bochy didn\u2019t rule out using Smith against some left-handers, depending on the matchup.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON \u2014 Jake Burger returned to the Texas Rangers lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, serving as their designated hitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":87563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ARLINGTON \u2014 Jake Burger returned to the Texas Rangers lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, serving as their designated hitter.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552\",\"name\":\"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/768f2fb5495a13a3103b4a8727c0f5fd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/768f2fb5495a13a3103b4a8727c0f5fd\",\"name\":\"XuanTan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/827d37323b8931fddf938d62f9285d39ced4f4d64291f6f1aee43e8d606182eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/827d37323b8931fddf938d62f9285d39ced4f4d64291f6f1aee43e8d606182eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"XuanTan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=7\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365","og_description":"ARLINGTON \u2014 Jake Burger returned to the Texas Rangers lineup on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, serving as their designated hitter.","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"XuanTan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"XuanTan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552","name":"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-09T15:12:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/768f2fb5495a13a3103b4a8727c0f5fd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Them-tieu-de-phu-95.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=87552#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Return of Jake Burger Will Impact Rangers\u2019 First Base Depth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/768f2fb5495a13a3103b4a8727c0f5fd","name":"XuanTan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/827d37323b8931fddf938d62f9285d39ced4f4d64291f6f1aee43e8d606182eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/827d37323b8931fddf938d62f9285d39ced4f4d64291f6f1aee43e8d606182eb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"XuanTan"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=7"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87564,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87552\/revisions\/87564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/87563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}