Smith started at shortstop and went 0-for-4 with a walk in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Athletics.
Smith filled in for the injured Corey Seager (hamstring) and is expected to handle the strong side of a platoon at short in his absence. Nick Ahmed, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Round Rock earlier this week, started Wednesday against a lefty. Smith has also hit leadoff the last two times Texas has faced a right-handed pitcher.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Moved to leadoff
Rotowire
Smith batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 with a walk, a home run, an RBI and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Athletics.
Among the several lineup tweaks made by Texas manager Bruce Bochy, Smith was moved to the leadoff spot with Marcus Semien being dropped to fifth. The move, designed to fix a struggling offense, paid off for at least one night. The lineup and batting order tweaks came against a right-hander, and it's uncertain if Bochy will continue the practice against lefties. That will be determined Wednesday when the Rangers face southpaw JP Sears. One thing for certain is that Smith is hitting well out of the gates and getting his bat in the lineup is needed. He started in center field in place of Leody Taveras on Tuesday and eventually moved to shortstop when Corey Seager was removed due to a hamstring injury. In the past, Smith has been the primary fill-in at short whenever Seager dealt with an injury.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Starts at DH
Rotowire
Smith started at designated hitter against a right-hander and went 3-for-4 in Sunday's 1-0 loss to the Dodgers.
Smith replaced a struggling Joc Pederson, who's batting just .055 (3-for-55). The season-opening slump may eventually cost Pederson his job as the DH against righties. Smith is hitting too well -- he's up to .378 following Sunday's loss -- to ignore and could gain a greater share of starts at DH going forward.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Key cog in winning rally
Rotowire
Smith went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double and a run scored in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Dodgers.
Smith returned to the lineup after missing four games due to a thumb injury, starting at first base and batted third. With Texas trailing by a run entering the bottom of the ninth inning, he led off the frame with a double before Adolis Garcia belted a walk-off home run. The double extended Smith's hit streak to five games, and overall he's slashing .341/.438/.512 through 48 plate appearances. He's helped fill the void in left field caused by the injury to Wyatt Langford (oblique), who could be activated ahead of Sunday's game. While there isn't a permanent home in the starting lineup for Smith, Bochy might consider using him at DH more often, given Joc Pederson's epic struggles to begin the season.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Sitting third straight
Rotowire
Smith (thumb) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Angels.
Thursday will mark the third straight game Smith has missed while he continues to nurse a bruised thumb. Dustin Harris will pick up another start in left field as a result, and the Rangers may consider placing Smith on the IL if he's unable to return to action soon.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Moves to left field
Rotowire
Smith started in left field and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Mariners.
Smith, who had filled in at third base when Josh Jung was unavailable, moved to left field with Wyatt Langford (oblique) on the injured list. The versatile infielder/outfielder is 10-for-24 with three doubles, a home run, two RBI, three steals and seven runs scored over the last eight games. Kevin Pillar could see time in left field against southpaws, but Smith is expected to be the primary fill-in while Langford is out.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Starts at first base
Rotowire
Smith started at first base and went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in Tuesday's 10-6 loss to the Cubs.
Smith's steady gig as a fill-in third baseman ended Tuesday with the return of Josh Jung; however, Texas manager Bruce Bochy wanted to keep Smith's lively bat -- 7-for-17 over the previous six games -- in the lineup. So, the manager gave Jake Burger (.105) a break at first base. Smith could reprise his temporary fill-in role at another position, as left fielder Wyatt Langford (side) was removed in the seventh inning Tuesday.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Fill-in gig ending
Rotowire
Smith started at third base and went 0-for-2 with a walk in Monday's 7-0 loss to the Cubs.
Smith has been the primary fill-in at third base while Josh Jung (neck) worked his way back from the 10-day injured list. Jung's IL stint is expected to end Tuesday, when the Rangers plan to activate him. That means Smith will be free to play one of the many other positions on his resume. Smith batted .350 (7-for-20) over seven games since Jung was placed on the IL.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Slugs first homer of year
Rotowire
Smith went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 5-2 win over the Rays.
The utility infielder took Zack Littell deep in the seventh inning to account for the game's final run. Smith was getting the start at third base and batting seventh, and he figures to see the bulk of the playing time at the hot corner while Josh Jung (neck) is sidelined. Through seven appearances this season, Smith is batting .250 (4-for-16) with a homer, a steal, two RBI and three runs.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Starts at third base
Rotowire
Smith started at third base and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Monday's 14-3 loss to the Reds.
Smith returned from a quadricep injury to fill in at third for the injured Josh Jung (IL-neck). It's likely he'll be the primary fill-in at the hot corner until Jung is ready to return. Ezequiel Duran and Jonathan Ornelas are also around and could grab a start or two against a lefty.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Removed from Saturday's game
Rotowire
Smith was removed from Saturday's game against the Red Sox due to a left leg injury, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
Smith collided with the fence in the top of the first inning while attempting to field a flyball that was drifting into foul territory. He was evaluated by a trainer and initially stayed in, but Ezequiel Duran pinch hit for Smith in the bottom of the inning. Smith will likely undergo further tests to determine the extent of the injury.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Plays fifth different position
Rotowire
Smith started in right field and went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's spring game against the Athletics.
Smith started at a fifth different position Tuesday -- he's also defended first base, shortstop, third base and center field -- and manager Bruce Bochy plans for him to play all fielding positions except catcher this spring, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reports. The home run was Smith's first of the Cactus League, and he's batting .316 (6-for-19) through seven outings.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Sitting against lefty
Rotowire
Smith isn't in the Rangers' lineup for Wednesday's game against Oakland.
With left-hander Brady Basso set to start on the bump for the A's, the lefty-hitting Smith will take a seat on the bench Wednesday. While he sits, Jonathan Ornelas will start at shortstop with Matt Duffy covering third base.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Homers in loss
Rotowire
Smith went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Mariners.
Smith singled in the first inning and then tied the game with a two-run blast in the third. The long ball was his first since Aug. 5, but he has now hit safely in five straight contests. On the season, the 27-year-old is hitting .262 with 13 homers, 59 RBI, 64 runs scored and 10 steals across 564 plate appearances.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Picks up 10th steal
Rotowire
Smith went 1-for-4 with a walk, one RBI, a stolen base and one run scored in Tuesday's 13-8 win over the Blue Jays.
Smith's steal was his 10th of the season. He's swiped two of those bags over 14 games in September while batting a poor .208 (11-for-53) for the month. Smith continues to see steady time at shortstop since Corey Seager (hip/sports hernia) was shut down for the year. Smith has a .260/.343/.396 slash line with 12 home runs, 57 RBI and 62 runs scored over 139 contests.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Logs two hits, run in win
Rotowire
Smith started at shortstop and went 2-for-5 with a run scored in Friday's 5-4 loss to the Mariners.
Smith made a sixth consecutive start at shortstop, and the Rangers will now be without Corey Seager (hip, hernia) for the rest of the season. Smith should see the bulk of the time at shortstop to finish off what has been his best year in the majors. He's batting .264/.348/.403 with 12 home runs, 56 RBI, nine steals and 61 runs scored over 136 games.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Swipes bag in win
Rotowire
Smith went 2-for-5 with a double, one RBI, a stolen base and one run scored in Wednesday's 10-6 win over the Yankees.
Smith has hit safely in six of his last seven games, going 8-for-26 (.308) with three RBI in that span. He got a rare look at leadoff with Marcus Semien sitting out Wednesday, though Smith has regularly batted third versus right-handers lately. He should be in line for a strong-side platoon role at shortstop while Corey Seager (hip) is on the injured list. Smith is slashing .268/.354/.413 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI, 57 runs scored and nine steals over 129 contests this season.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Back in lineup
Rotowire
Smith started at third base and went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Sunday's 6-5 extra-inning win over Minnesota.
Smith, who was given a break Saturday after starting eight games in seven days, was back in the lineup and stole his eighth base. A strong first half put him on fantasy radars, but a .202/.264/.294 line since the All-Star break is more in line with Smith's production from previous seasons.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Moves to leadoff
Rotowire
Smith hit leadoff and started at third base in Monday's 6-3 win over St. Louis, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Smith was in the field at third base even though Josh Jung was activated off the 60-day injured list Monday. While that was surprising, so was Smith's slotting in the leadoff spot while Marcus Semien was dropped to third in the order. Texas manager Bruce Bochy told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that the tweaked batting order was in relation to Jung's return. It's unclear if more tweaks are expected once Jung is in the starting lineup, or if the changes will be reflected against both right-handed and left-handed starters.
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Rangers' Josh Smith: Carries Texas to win
Rotowire
Smith went 2-for-4 with two two-run home runs during Sunday's 4-2 win over the Astros.
As a team, the Rangers logged only three hits Sunday. Two of those came off Smith's bat, and each wound up in the stands for the 26-year-old's first career multi-homer game. During his last 11 games, Smith is batting 13-for-40 (.325) with three homers, seven runs scored, eight RBI and a stolen base.
