ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers first baseman Burger left Saturday night’s 3-0 loss to the Angels in the fifth inning with a left wrist contusion. Initial X-rays came back clean, and he is back in the lineup a day later.
Burger was hit in the left forearm and wrist area by a 95.1 mph sinker from Ryan Johnson in the third inning. He was down and in pain for a stretch, and manager Skip Schumaker and a trainer came out to check on him.
Burger stayed in the game, ran the bases, and played defense in the fourth. Nicky Lopez replaced him to begin the fifth.
“It got him good,” Schumaker said. “He’s pretty swollen, pretty sore so far. It was pretty scary. Burger is one of the toughest guys I’ve been around. So for him not to be able to go back in, you knew it was pretty sore.”
Burger is expected to undergo further scans in the coming days. It is the same wrist he had surgery on this past offseason.
“Fortunately, that wasn’t a bone surgery. It was the tendon and the sheath,” Burger said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a little sore, and it’s pretty swollen. Right after that defensive inning, I talked with Lucky and we decided to go down into the cage and see how it felt. I just felt like it was probably going to be more of a detriment to the team staying in there and trying to gut that one out.”
Jake Burger’s Season At The Plate
Burger leads the Rangers with 73 RBIs, which ranks 12th in the American League. His 21 home runs are second on the team behind Joc Pederson‘s 22.
He is tied for second on the Rangers with 52 runs scored. Burger has appeared in 123 of a possible 130 games this season.
“I want to be there every single day. When I come out of the game, I kind of get frustrated with it,” Burger explained. “But I felt like with the swelling in there, I felt like my range of motion was just not there for the swing. That was probably the right call tonight. I’ll go to sleep tonight, get the swelling out and hopefully be in there tomorrow.”
“It already feels better in terms of range of motion. I can deal with a little soreness,” Burger continued. “So hopefully, it’s just a little soreness and the range of motion is back tomorrow.”
Burger went 1-for-1 before leaving Saturday. He was back at first base for Sunday’s finale.
Jake Burger’s Left Wrist History
The wrist has a history. Burger went on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 18, 2025, with a left wrist sprain, the third injured list stint of his first season in Texas.
He missed June 21 through July 2 that year with a left oblique strain and July 16 through Aug. 7 with a left quadriceps injury. The offseason surgery followed.
Texas is already without Josh Jung and Kyle Higashioka, both on the 10-day injured list. Justin Foscue and Cody Freeman are among the infield options on the active roster.
How The Texas Rangers Lost On Saturday
Johnson worked 7 innings for the Angels on Saturday and gave up 1 hit and 0 runs with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts on 88 pitches. He took the win.
The lone Texas hit was a single by Freeman. Cody Bradford took the loss after going 5.1 innings and allowing 7 hits, 2 earned runs, and 3 strikeouts. The Angels scored in the first, sixth, and eighth innings.
Johnson is from Dallas and pitched at Dallas Baptist University. The Angels took him with the 74th pick in the 2024 draft.
What’s Next For The Texas Rangers
The Rangers are 64-66 and have 32 games left.
Cal Quantrill starts Sunday’s finale against the Angels at 1:35 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field. Texas opens a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
