The defending World Series Champion Texas Rangers have struggled mightily on offense this year. A significant portion of their hitting woes have been a result of the absence of former Texas Tech baseball standout Josh Jung.
Hit on the wrist by a pitch on April 1, the 2023 American League All-Star starter at third base required surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation that kept him out of the Rangers' lineup until Tuesday night in St. Louis.
Though the Rangers lost to the Cardinals 8-1, it was great to see Jung back on the field for the big league team. He hit seventh in the lineup and started at third base. For the game, he was 1-3 with a single as he made his return.
Jung has appeared in only five games this season. In that short sample size, he's batting .400 with two homers and six RBI.
Josh Jung is BACK! 😮💨 @Rangers | #StraightUpTX | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/GHQ9KRlih6
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) July 31, 2024
Injuries have been a common theme throughout Jung's brief professional career. Just last season, he missed 38 games in August and September after breaking his thumb while catching a line drive in the palm of his left hand.
Fortunately, he was able to return in mid-September and help the Rangers on their improbable run to their first-ever World Series title. In last year's playoffs, he hit .308 and drove in eight runs while belting three homers in 17 games.
Prior to that, injuries were a problem during Jung's minor league career as well. In February of 2022, he had to have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
That injury kept him out for several months but he was able to return to action that season and make his Major League debut on September 9, 2022. Thus, Young has not been through a full professional season without suffering a significant injury in his career given that his first three minor league seasons were shortened.
In 2019 he played only 44 minor league games after being drafted in the summer. Then, the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 saw the return of minor league baseball but that season was limited to just 78 games.
Now, Jung is back where he belongs in the Major Leagues and he's ready to try to help the Rangers make a late playoff push. He got off to a nice start on Tuesday night and he appears to be fully healthy once again after a long and frustrating absence.