Justin Foscue’s 0 for 39 streak has him approaching historic levels of 0ferdom
It has not been a good rookie season for Texas Rangers infielder Justin Foscue.
The book on Foscue, a bat-first infielder who was selected 14th overall in the 2020 MLB Draft by the Rangers, has always been that there are questions about where he will end up on the field defensively, but that he is going to hit. He did that at Mississippi State, putting up a 958 OPS as a sophomore and a 973 OPS in his COVID-shortened junior season. He has done that in the minors, slashing .278/.388/.499 in 1530 plate appearances, mostly at AA and AAA.
He has not done that, however, in his limited major league action so far. In 44 plate appearances this year, Foscue is slashing a woeful .048/.091/.071. He is 2 for 42 with a double, two walks and 18 strikeouts. That’s a terrible stretch for any hitter, but especially so at the beginning of one’s career.
Remarkably, the two hits he has recorded came in his first three plate appearances in tjhe majors. Summoned to the big leagues in early April when Josh Jung landed on the injured list, Foscue got his first action on April 5 of this year, when he came in for Marcus Semien in the eighth inning of a game against the Astros where Texas was leading 10-1. Foscue came to the plate once in that game, and popped out.
Memorably, Foscue’s first hit was two days later, when he pinch hit for Evan Carter against Astros reliever Josh Hader with one out in the 9th of a 3-0 game. Foscue singled home Adolis Garcia, making it a 3-1 score, but was erased on a game ending GIDP by Ezequiel Duran.
That’s the last time anything has gone right for Justin Foscue in 2024.
As it turns out, the infielder strained his oblique on that swing that resulted in his first major league hit. He landed on the injured list, started a rehab assignment in the rookie league early June, had it paused for almost a week due to soreness before resuming, then went back to Round Rock on June 20.
Brought back to the big leagues after the All Star Break, Foscue started for Texas against the Orioles on July 20 and doubled in his first at bat of the game. He went 0 for 3 the rest of the way, then was hitless in his next four games before being sent back to AAA. Brought back to the majors when rosters expanded on September 1, Foscue has appeared in eight games this month, and has gone 0 for 23.
All told, Foscue is now 0 for his last 39 dating back to his second plate appearance on July 20. And that streak has him on the verge of making history of a sort.
I am usually pretty good at Stathead-Fu, but I could not figure out how to pull from Stathead consecutive plate appearance data over multiple games, and thus cannot tell you how many players have had hitless streaks of at least 39 at bats in MLB history. However, in 2019, Chris Davis had a record 0 for 54 streak, and CBS Sports’ write up when Davis finally breaking the streak listed the longest hitless streaks in MLB history. They are:
Chris Davis, 2018-19, 0 for 54
Eugenio Velez, 2010-11, 0 for 46
Bill Bergen, 1909, 0 for 45
Dave Campbell, 1973, 0 for 45
Craig Counsell, 2011, 0 for 45
It is an interesting list. Davis, of course, we all know about. Counsell was a nice of light-hitting infielder who had a lengthy career, and whose streak came in his final season in the majors, when he was 40. Bergen was a legendarily light-hitting catcher in the 19-aughts who had a career .170/.194/.201 which, even in the deadball era, was good for only a 21 OPS+. Campbell was an infielder who spent parts of eight years in the majors, and whose hitless streak in 1973 spanned stints with three teams — the Padres, the Cardinals, and the Astros. Velez was a 2B/OF who spent parts of five seasons in the majors, and who got a ring in 2010 with the Giants.
High Heat Stats also had a piece in April of 2019, when Davis broke his streak, looking at players with at least 40 consecutive hitless at bats. That one doesn’t include Bergen, but lists nine additional players who went hitless in at least 40 straight at bats. Among those listed are borderline Hall of Famer Robin Ventura, as well as Andy Fox, whose streak occurred in 2004 with both the Montreal Expos and the Texas Rangers (he broke the hitless streak in the final game of the 2004 season, and never played in the majors again).
So one more hitless at bat from Foscue and he will be just the 15th player in MLB history to have an 0 for 40 streak. Six more hitless at bats and he will be tied for the third longest hitless streak in MLB history, while seven more would tie him for the second longest such streak.
And you thought there was no reason to watch the Rangers over the final few days of the season. As it turns out, we are getting the opportunity to see a player potentially climb an all-time MLB leaderboard.
Here’s hoping Foscue homers his next time up and brings an end to the streak.