Sometimes, a player just seems snakebitten on the injury front. That is starting to be the case for former Texas Tech baseball star and current Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung.
In the Rangers' 9-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, Jung broke his right wrist after being struck by a pitch in the ninth inning. There has been no timetable set for his return and surgery may be needed.
The pitch came with one out and the bases loaded with Texas leading 7-3. Phil Maton, the Rays' pitcher who threw the doomed pitch, had already beaned the previous two batters and let his pitch to Jung get away as well.
However, he didn't get credit for a third-straight hit batter because Jung was deemed to have swung at the pitch that hit him. To call it a true swing would be unfair as Jung had started his swing but then carried the bat through the zone while trying to avoid the pitch.
It is a disappointing development for Jung for a number of reasons. First, he was off to a torrid start in 2024.
On Monday, he went 3-4 with four RBI and a three-run homer. For the season, he's hitting .412 with two homers and six RBI with a staggering OPS of 1.415.
Second, this marks twice since last August that Jung has broken a bone on a freak play. Last season, he broke his left thumb catching a line drive in the palm of his glove. That injury caused him to miss several weeks during the Rangers' push to the playoffs.
However, he was able to return with 13 games remaining in the regular season. He then went on to play extremely well in the playoffs hitting .308 with three homers and eight RBI to help the Rangers capture the franchise's first World Series Championship.
“I just feel horrible for him. He’s had such tough luck on this thing as far as the injuries and it puts a damper on this one,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’ll be back. I talked to him briefly, and this hurts. You know I feel for the kid because he’s had to deal with so much. ... It’s going to be a little while but he’ll be back.”
Jung also saw his minor league career impacted by an injury. In February of 2022, he had to undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum causing him to miss six months and likely delaying the start of his major league career.
Fortunately, Jung has shown an ability to rebound from significant injuries and that's what everyone hopes he will do this time around. Red Raiders across the nation have enjoyed seeing Jung's success at the highest level of the sport and we look forward to seeing that continue when he returns from his latest setback later this year.