Jung's sophomore season ends early due to right wrist tendinitis

OAKLAND -- The Rangers will be without another infielder for the final week of the regular season.

On Tuesday, before the Rangers were walked off by the A’s, 5-4, at the Coliseum, the club announced that third baseman Josh Jung was placed on the 10-day injured list with right wrist tendinitis.

Jonathan Ornelas started at third base in his place, going 1-for-3. With Corey Seager already on the injured list after sports hernia surgery, and Josh Smith filling in at shortstop, Texas also added veteran Matt Duffy as infield depth for the last week of the season.

Jung missed the majority of the year with a fractured right wrist after being hit with a pitch just four games into the regular season. Throughout his rehab, Jung endured discomfort near the surgical site, which slowed his progress until he returned to the active roster on July 29.

That discomfort returned within the last few weeks. Jung hadn’t played since Sept. 18 against Toronto at Globe Life Field, when he went 0-for-3 at the plate. The hope was for him to return to the lineup during the final road trip of the season, but he will instead visit his surgeon in Arizona on Thursday to get a CT scan and figure out the best course of action for the offseason.

“He wants to try to play through it,” manager Bruce Bochy said during the last homestand. “I'm going to wait just to make sure this thing's OK and see [if it clears] up, so he can get to a point where he can take his normal swing. I don't think he's there right now, just watching him. I'm sure he feels it when you impact the ball. The vibration, everything is still bothering that hand."

Jung said it’s the same buildup of discomfort as his shutdown earlier in this season, but it has not yet reached the same stage of pain.

Jung hit .264/.298/.421 in 46 games this season, but before fracturing his wrist, he was without a doubt the Rangers’ best hitter after going 7-for-17 with two walks, one double, one triple and two homers over the first four games.

“Honestly, I just want to get an answer,” Jung said on Tuesday. “I don't want my career to be defined by getting cortisone shots every six weeks, truly. I just want to find an answer to what is going on. [President of baseball operations Chris Young] even had a talk with me saying I need a healthy offseason, not an offseason to get healthy, which is something I've been having to deal with."

Injuries have plagued Jung throughout his professional career. Jung slashed .266/.315/.467 with 23 homers in his first full big league season in 2023, but he landed on the injured list for six weeks with a fractured left thumb.

His big league debut was also delayed due to a slew of injuries in the Minors between 2021-22.

As the club’s top prospect, Jung sustained a stress fracture in his left foot going into Spring Training in 2021, then tore a labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder while lifting weights during camp in '22. He ultimately did not make his MLB debut until September of that year.

That means three of Jung’s last four Spring Trainings have begun with injuries, including a strained left calf in 2024 that kept him out until the final week of Cactus League games.

Bochy said he’s not concerned about the narrative that Jung is “injury-prone.”

“It's just a little early, I think, even though he's had his share of injuries,” Bochy said. “More than his shares, he’s kind of ball hogging them right now. We don't want to put that label on him. … Most importantly, what he's got to do is get healthy. We need him on the field. We told him that. We missed him. Every team has to deal with injuries, and it's not an excuse by any means, but we did miss him. There's no getting around it. We need to have him on the field for us to have success.”