Rangers third baseman Josh Jung suffered a fractured wrist after being hit by a pitch in his fourth sport of the season, and wrist surgical procedure was required to repair the issue. Initially given a tough six-week restoration timeline, that projection was lengthened to 8-10 weeks for the reason that surgical procedure was extra difficult than anticipated, thus sending Jung from the 10-day injured record to the 60-day IL.
Sadly for Jung, he’ll now face a fair longer absence, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information writes that Jung will seemingly be out till a minimum of the beginning of July, or maybe nearer to the All-Star break. Will probably be 10-14 days earlier than Jung is aware of whether or not or not he’ll be given the inexperienced gentle to begin swinging a bat, and assuming that Jung is cleared, it’ll be one other 3-4 weeks of full baseball actions and minor league rehab video games earlier than an IL activation is possible.
The state of affairs nonetheless appears fairly fluid, and the truth that Jung has already had his timeline pushed again twice isn’t an excellent signal. There’s additionally the uncertainty that comes from any hitter recovering from wrist surgical procedure, as it’s common for batters to wish some further re-adjustment time after an harm that so instantly impacts their means to manage a bat and swing correctly. A minor league rehab task ought to theoretically assist Jung shake off a few of this rust, although there’s no substitute for going through Main League pitching.
Jung’s first full MLB season noticed him end fourth in AL Rookie of the 12 months voting, as he hit .266/.315/.467 with 23 house runs over 515 plate appearances. That spectacular common season was adopted up by a .308/.329/.538 slash line and three homers in 70 throughout the playoffs because the Rangers went on to seize their first World Sequence championship. Jung’s emergence as a constructing block has already paid dividends with one ring, and the Rangers are definitely hoping he is usually a lineup fixture for years to return, although this wrist surgical procedure is a really unlucky setback.
As Grant notes, the Rangers haven’t but been damage by Jung’s absence since Josh Smith has stepped up. Smith has hit .280/.375/.432 in 152 PA this season, incomes an rising massive share of the taking part in time at third base even when Smith’s left-handed bat provides to the general lefty tilt of the Texas lineup.
