Jung Guns: Rangers Prospect, Younger Brother Make History

The former Big 12 Players of the Year were both first-round picks and are on the MLB.com Top 100 Prospects List.

Texas Rangers No. 1 prospect Josh Jung has made history — but he needed his younger brother, Jace, to do it.

When MLB.com reorganized its Top 100 prospects last week, in the wake of the MLB Draft and the end of the trade deadline, the elder Jung moved up to baseball’s No. 39 prospect. The younger Jung slid into the No. 74 spot.

It’s the first time in the history of MLB.com’s rankings that two brothers were in the Top 100 at the same time.

Josh Jung is putting up fantastic numbers at Triple-A Round Rock after missing most of this season due to a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder that required surgery during spring training.

The Rangers’ 2019 first-round pick is batting .333/.405/.773/1.178 with eight home runs and 22 RBI in 18 games at the Arizona Complex League and with the Express. He’s blasting home runs as if he didn’t have surgery six months ago.

The Rangers haven’t given any indication that they’re interested in calling Jung up, but with the focus on preparing for 2023, giving him a cup of coffee in Arlington before the season end makes sense.

Jace Jung is further away from making his Major League debut. A first-round pick like his brother, he went to the Detroit Tigers in the 2022 Draft. Shortly after signing with the Tigers, he was assigned to their High Class-A affiliate the West Michigan Whitecaps. In 51 at-bats he’s hitting .216/.349/.275/.624 with no home runs and five RBI.

Both played their college ball at Texas Tech, where both were Big 12 Player of the Year selections. Jace won the award in 2021, while Josh won it in 2019, sharing it with another Rangers draft selection, Baylor’s Davis Wendzel.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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