'It Was Disappointing.' Texas Rangers Third Baseman Josh Jung Explains What Delayed His Return

The Texas Rangers All-Star third baseman probably tried to recover too quickly after having an intricate surgery to repair his fractured right wrist in early April.

Jun 9, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers injured third baseman Josh Jung runs before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON — Every injured MLB player is antsy to return to the field. It's their livelihood, and most play it with pure joy.

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung, however, might take that desire to another level. Perhaps because of his relative youth (he's 26), his previous experiences with injuries, or just his deep love for the game, the past three-plus months on the sideline have been tortuous for the 2023 All-Star from Texas Tech.

Jung, who had major surgery on April 2 to repair his fractured right wrist after being hit by a pitch, was progressing ahead of schedule, playing in four minor league rehab games in June before inflammation near the surgical site forced him to shut down for three weeks.

"It was disappointing, but I know we were pushing it pretty good," Jung said. "It's the first time with an injury where I've felt something like that."

Jung took a big step towards another rehab stint and returning to the Rangers roster by taking 15 swings off a tee before Sunday's first-half finale in Houston.

In retrospect, Jung says he and the club likely pushed too fast after what was an exceptionally intricate surgery involving screws going into bone. The inflammation arose from the stress of swinging and hitting balls. More time would have allowed Jung to rebuild the strength in the wrist, which will help prevent inflammation.

"There's always that point with an injury where it's like, 'Okay, do I push through this or not?' With all my other injuries, I've been able to just push through it and get to the other side. This was the first time where I wasn't able to do that. So that's where the disappointment came in. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I wanted to get back and play for the team. I was doing everything I could. Did we rush it a little bit? Probably. It was probably a little too much, too fast. But that's part of [the rehab process]."

The bout with inflammation was, in some ways, the scariest moment for Jung, who has dealt with a broken left thumb in 2023, a stress fracture in his foot in 2021, and a torn labrum in his left shoulder in 2022. He strained his left calf fielding grounders two days before spring training began in February.

The pain caused by the inflammation in his wrist caught him off guard.

"I wanted to know what was going on. It's just so hard to determine with all the scar tissue and all the crap that's in there right now, just from the healing process and surgery, you just don't ever really know what's going on," he said. "It boiled down to a strength thing. I just wasn't strong enough to really [put that type of stress on it yet]. When you're not injured, you don't realize how much force goes through the bat when you're hitting a pitch and I think that's what really set me back."

Jung is used to working through the aches and pains while recovering from an injury. The inflammation felt different.

"You've got to push through like scar tissue and to get your range of motion and all of that is going to make you sore," he said. "The impact of the bat on the ball flared everything up. The tissue in the wrist just wasn't strong enough. I'm still getting stronger and that's why I think I feel better. I'm not back to full strength or anything like that, but I'm getting stronger and stronger."

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