Rangers receive bad news after Josh Smith's alarming hospital scare

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The Texas Rangers lost 2-0 to the Houston Astros on Saturday, managing only one hit over eight innings. The loss drops the Rangers to 21-23, leaving them in third place in the AL West.

Along with the defeat, they face growing roster problems off the field as second baseman Josh Smith is now reportedly hospitalized with viral meningitis.

However, the bad news the Rangers community got right after admitting him to the hospital was absolutely unexpected.

Josh Smith's viral meningitis diagnosis delivers Rangers another blow​

Josh Smith visited a doctor on Wednesday after feeling ill and was diagnosed with so-called Aseptic meningitis. He last played in Detroit, where he went 0-for-3.

The Baton Rouge native will remain in a Dallas-area hospital until he recovers. According to latest report, it will take around 7 to 10 days. The team will design a return-to-play program only after he can resume physical activity.

Just to recap, viral meningitis is the most common form of the illness and most patients recover fully through rest. However, the unexpected illness creates a difficult setback for a player trying to secure an everyday role.

Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young addressed the situation before Friday's series opener against the Houston Astros. "Our only concern right now is Josh's health," Young said, per ESPN. "This is obviously an unexpected illness, but we hope to see him return to full health and rejoin the club very soon."

According to MLB.com, General Manager Ross Fenstermaker claimed that Smith is receiving excellent medical care in the Dallas area, and the front office will defer entirely to the medical staff to determine when physical activity can resume. For now, the priority remains ensuring Smith returns to full health.

This is the second time Smith has hit the shelf in quick succession. He had already been on the 10-day injured list since May 4 with a right glute strain and then picked up wrist inflammation during his ramp-up, which delayed his recovery before the meningitis diagnosis stopped his return timeline entirely.

Ezequiel Duran steps into the everyday role at second base​

Ezequiel Duran has stepped into the everyday role at second base. Before landing on the injured list, Josh Smith was batting .217 with six RBIs through 31 games. His early-season offensive struggles had already begun to affect his playing time.

Even before his injury, Smith had not fully secured the starting second base position. Duran had earned a .301/.370/.452 slash line with eight extra-base hits and three stolen bases over 82 plate appearances, gradually taking playing time away from Smith.

Duran and Justin Foscue have shared time at second base since Smith went down. Duran's strong recent performance gives manager Skip Schumaker little reason to rush Smith back to the lineup once he is medically cleared.

Smith entered the 2026 season as the internal frontrunner to replace Marcus Semien, who was sent to the New York Mets in an offseason blockbuster trade. It remains to be seen whether he will get the starting job back when he returns.

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