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Josh Jung

Joshua Ryne Jung (yung; born February 12, 1998) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and was drafted by the Rangers in the first round of the 2019 MLB draft.

Josh Jung
Jung at the White House in 2024
Texas Rangers – No. 6
Third baseman
Born: (1998-02-12) February 12, 1998 (age 26)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 2022, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through September 20, 2024)
Batting average.257
Hits194
Home runs35
Runs batted in100
Stolen bases7
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Amateur career

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Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Jung attended Douglas MacArthur High School, where he played baseball[1] and football.[2] Undrafted out of high school in the 2016 MLB draft, he enrolled at Texas Tech University to play college baseball for the Red Raiders.

In 2017, as a freshman at Texas Tech, Jung started all 62 games at third base, batting .306 with six home runs and 43 RBIs.[3] He was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year[4] and was named a Freshman All-American by multiple outlets including Collegiate Baseball[5] and Perfect Game/Rawlings.[6] He was also named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team and the All-Big 12 Second Team.[7] That summer, he played in the California Collegiate League[8] where he hit .368 with two home runs, 31 RBIs, and a .454 on-base percentage over 117 at-bats.[9] As a sophomore in 2018, Jung once again started all 65 of Texas Tech's games at third base, hitting .392/.491/.639 with 12 home runs and 80 RBIs.[10] He was named to the All-Big 12 First Team,[11] and was once again named an All-American by outlets such as Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.[12][13][14] He played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that summer.[15]

Jung was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game, Baseball America, D1Baseball.com, and Collegiate Baseball prior to his junior year.[16] During the season, he missed two games due to a quadricep strain, ending his streak of 139 consecutive starts.[17] After returning, he moved to shortstop.[18] He was named the 2019 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year (along with Baylor's Davis Wendzel) after batting .333 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs through 49 games.[19] He was named an All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, ABCA, and NCBWA.[20][21][22] Jung was the recipient of the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award, which honors the top Division I baseball player within Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma each season.[23] Jung finished his junior year hitting .343/.474/.636 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 64 games.[24]

Considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 MLB draft,[25] he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the first round, with the eighth overall pick.[26]

Professional career

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Minor leagues

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On July 3, 2019, Jung signed with the Rangers for a $4.4 million signing bonus.[27] On July 10, 2019, Jung made his professional debut with the Arizona League Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, hitting a home run in his first professional at-bat.[28] On July 15, Jung was promoted to the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League and hit .287/.363/.389/.752 with one home run and 23 RBIs over forty games for them.[29] Jung did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 20, 2021, it was announced that Jung would undergo surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot and miss six to eight weeks.[30] He was activated on June 15 and assigned to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Central.[31] After hitting .308/.366/.544 with ten home runs and forty RBIs over 43 games, he was promoted to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A West in mid-August.[32] Over 35 games with Round Rock, Jung hit .348/.436/.652 with nine home runs, 21 RBIs, and 14 doubles.[33]

Jung entered the 2022 season as the ninth ranked overall prospect in baseball by FanGraphs,[34] and the 26th overall prospect by Baseball America.[35] On February 23, 2022, Jung underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.[36] Jung returned to game action at the end of July, first appearing in eight rehab games for the Arizona Complex League Rangers, before returning to Round Rock in August.[37] Over 23 games with Round Rock, he hit .273 with six home runs and 24 RBIs.[38]

Texas Rangers

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2022

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On September 9, 2022, the Rangers selected Jung's contract from Triple-A and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night and in his very first at-bat, he hit a home run off of Ross Stripling of the Toronto Blue Jays. The feat made him only the second Rangers player to do so alongside Jurickson Profar.[39] Jung appeared in 26 games for Texas in 2022, hitting .204/.235/.418/.654 with five home runs and 14 RBI over 102 plate appearances.[40]

2023

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Jung was named the AL Rookie of the Month in April 2023 after leading AL rookies in hits (27), home runs (6), and total bases (44). His 21 runs batted in (RBI) were the most among all rookies.[41] He followed that up by winning AL Rookie of the Month for May 2023.[42] Jung was voted in as the American League starting third baseman for the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[43] Jung became the first rookie to start in an All-Star game as a Texas Ranger.[44] He won the World Series with the Rangers in 2023.

2024

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After playing in just four games, Jung suffered a fractured wrist following a hit by pitch, and was ruled out for 8–10 weeks after undergoing surgery.[45] He was activated from the injured list on July 29, 2024.[46]

Personal life

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Jung, a Christian,[47] is the son of Jeff and Mary Jung of San Antonio. Both parents are physical education teachers in the North East Independent School District.[48] Jung's younger brother, Jace Jung, played college baseball at Texas Tech and was a first-round draft pick in 2022.[49]

References

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  1. ^ Nick Moyle (May 3, 2018). "MacArthur grad Jung making most of opportunity at Texas Tech". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  2. ^ Raul Dominguez Jr. (August 31, 2014). "Getting Brahmas over the hump". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  3. ^ Jack Densmore (June 7, 2017). "Josh Jung named Freshman All-American". The Daily Toreador. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  4. ^ "2017 All-Big 12 Baseball Teams and Awards Announced". Big 12 Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  5. ^ Carlos Silva Jr. (June 7, 2017). "Jung garners freshman all-American honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  6. ^ David Collier (June 15, 2017). "Josh Jung Adds Another All-America Honor". KLBK-TV. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  7. ^ "Texas Tech baseball's Top 10 players: No. 2 Josh Jung". Viva The Matadors. SB Nation. February 16, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  8. ^ "2017 California Collegiate League Top Prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  9. ^ Jake Mastroianni (February 8, 2019). "2019 CBD Top 100 Countdown: 3. Josh Jung (Texas Tech)". College Baseball Daily. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  10. ^ Chris Bugajsky (February 2, 2019). "Prospect Profile: Josh Jung". Full Press Coverage. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  11. ^ "Holt Wins Freshman, Tech Gets Five On Big 12 First Team". Texas Tech Red Raiders. May 22, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  12. ^ "Eight Earn All-America Accolades". Big 12 Conference. May 31, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  13. ^ Eleanor Guinan (January 8, 2019). "Jung named PG/Rawlings Preseason All-American". The Daily Toreador. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  14. ^ Max Hengst (February 5, 2019). "NCBWA names Jung unanimous preseason First Team All-American". The Daily Toreador. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  15. ^ "Jung Lifts Team USA to 1-0 Win Over Japan on Fourth of July". USA Baseball. July 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  16. ^ "Jung Awarded Fourth Preseason All-America Honor". Texas Tech Red Raiders. January 28, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  17. ^ Don Williams (March 14, 2019). "Tech starters seeing mixed results so far". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  18. ^ Don Williams (April 18, 2019). "Tech looks for higher gear as Baylor comes to town". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  19. ^ Don Williams (May 21, 2019). "Big 12 coaches honor Jung as co-player of the year". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  20. ^ "Jung, Warren Collect All-America Honors by Baseball America". Texas Tech Red Raiders. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  21. ^ "Jung, Warren Named D1Baseball All-Americans". Texas Tech Red Raiders. June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  22. ^ "Jung Collects Sixth All-America Honor from ABCA". Texas Tech Red Raiders. June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  23. ^ Drew Davison (June 12, 2019). "Texas Tech's Josh Jung wins Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Max Hengst (June 30, 2019). "Awards and achievements piled up after Tech's historic season". The Daily Toreador. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  25. ^ "MLB.com 2019 Prospect Watch". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  26. ^ Jeff Wilson (June 3, 2019). "Rangers fill need with 8th overall pick. But that's not why they took Texas Tech star". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  27. ^ T.R. Sullivan (July 2, 2019). "Jung, Wendzel reach agreements". MLB.com. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  28. ^ "Watch: Rangers 2019 first-round pick Josh Jung hits a home run in first professional at bat". The Dallas Morning News. July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  29. ^ T.R. Sullivan (July 15, 2018). "Pence may return by Tuesday for Rangers". MLB.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  30. ^ "Rangers' Prospect Josh Jung Out 6-8 Weeks With Stress Fracture". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  31. ^ "Top Rangers prospect Josh Jung off to fast start in Frisco after missing time with foot injury". Dallas News. June 18, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  32. ^ Staff Reports. "Texas Tech Roundup: Former Red Raider athletes Jung, Beeter promoted in MILB". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  33. ^ Glaser, Kyle (October 5, 2021). "2021 Triple-A West Top 10 Prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  34. ^ Eric Longenhagen, Kevin Goldstein and Tess Taruskin (February 23, 2022). "2022 Top 100 Prospects". FanGraphs. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  35. ^ BA, Staff. "2022 Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  36. ^ Grant, Evan (February 23, 2022). "Rangers prospect Josh Jung has shoulder surgery on torn labrum, could miss six months". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  37. ^ Terranova, Rob (August 17, 2022). "Healthy Jung blasts off for two jacks at Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  38. ^ "Rangers prospect Josh Jung eyeing debut vs. Blue Jays".
  39. ^ "A dream come true: Jung homers in first MLB AB". MLB.com.
  40. ^ Postins, Matthew (October 19, 2022). "Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps: Josh Jung". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  41. ^ "Monthly award winners for April announced". mlb.com. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  42. ^ Landry, Kennedi (June 4, 2023). "Back-to-back monthly honors underscore Jung's value". MLB.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  43. ^ Giese, Nathan (June 29, 2023). "Texas Rangers rookie Josh Jung named starter for 2023 MLB All-Star Game". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  44. ^ Landry, Kennedi (June 29, 2023). "Semien, Seager, Jung, Heim named to 2023 All-Star Game as starters". MLB.com. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  45. ^ "Rangers Third Baseman Josh Jung To Miss Eight To 10 Weeks After Wrist Surgery". amp.foxsports.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  46. ^ Polishuk, Mark; McDonald, Darragh (July 29, 2024). "Rangers Make 11 Roster Moves". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  47. ^ Mercer, Kevin (May 5, 2023). "Texas Rangers' Josh Jung wins AL Rookie of the Month while being "competitor for Christ"". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  48. ^ NEISD Alumni Spotlight: "Way to go, Champ!", Discover (North East Independent School District magazine), Winter 2023, p. 11.
  49. ^ "Jace Jung - Baseball". Texas Tech Red Raiders. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
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