Houston Astros v Texas Rangers | Sam Hodde/GettyImages

Native Midwesterner and former Chicago White Sox Jake Burger using the power of Pope Leo XIV as inspiration since returning from Triple-A Round Rock earlier this week.

The Rangers first baseman made news after an excerpt on Thursday nights Rangers Sports Network broadcast between the Rangers and Astros where Burger referenced the new pope, a Chicago native, and the Rangers hot streak has a correlation.

Texas is in the middle of a six game winning streak, their longest since their playoff run in 2023, taking 2 of 3 from Detroit, sweeping Colorado and taking the series opener against Houston thanks to Burger.

In Burger’s first at-bat of the night, the first baseman doubled and celebrated at second with a wave and prayer hands. A nod to the new pope, who is a fellow Midwesterner, like Burger.

“Basically, I kind of thought: New Pope, new me. He’s a Midwestern guy like me. I was proud. And since he’s been elected Pope, we’ve been rather hot,” Burger told the Dallas Morning News after the game.

If the divine intervention on the double wasn’t enough for you, what Burger did later in the game might convince you. In a scoreless pitcher’s duel, Burger stepped into the box to leadoff the sixth inning and took a Hunter Brown fastball opposite field into the Rangers’ dugout, which ended up being the game’s deciding run.

A Catholic, Burger was in the middle of his Round Rock stint after starting the season with a .190 batting average. In his return to the big leagues, Burger is 5-for-12 with a double, home run and two runs driven in.

Burger said he not only feels the pope deserves some credit for Texas’s recent win streak but also hinted that as a White Sox fan he wasn’t happy about Burger being traded from the White Sox to Miami a few seasons ago.

“I think it would be a disservice to him, not to give him some credit. He’s a White Sox fan. I’d like to think he didn’t like the trade and maybe he put in a little blessing for me. So, I told the guys, if I get to second, my new double sign is going to be the wave,” he said to the Dallas Morning News.

If the new pope does indeed have some kind of role in the Rangers hot streak, please keep it up Pope Leo.