Josh Jung Ready To Put Frustrating 2024 Behind Him, But Needs Answers For Continuing Wrist Pain

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung played in only 46 games after a fractured wrist in the fourth game of the season derailed much of his 2024 season.

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung's 2024 season was derailed when his right wrist was fractured in the fourth against the Tampa Bay Rays. / MLB Film Room

OAKLAND — This his been the most frustrating year of baseball of Josh Jung's life.

The Texas Rangers third baseman strained his left calf days before spring training offiically began in February and missed most of March. Jung, a 2023 All-Star, was ready, however, when the season started. And he was off to a blazing start in the Rangers first four games, hitting two homers, a double, a triple, and six RBI while batting .412.

In the ninth inning of an April 3 game at Tampa Bay in which Jung had gone 3 for 4 with a homer and four RBI, Phil Maton's 87 mph sinker hung up and struck Jung's right wrist.

He missed the next 103 games after having surgery to repair his fractured wrist. He pushed to return early, but after a brief rehab stint with Round Rock, hitting remained too painful. The wrist needed more time to heal. He returned to the Rangers' lineup just as the trade deadline hit when the club still felt capable of reaching the postseason. Three weeks later, however, the pain was returning to Jung's wrist.

With the club out of contention, Jung was shut down before the club officially placed him on the injured list with right wrist tendinitis. He'll have the Arizona surgeon, Dr. Donald Sheridan, scan and examine the wrist on Thursday.

The pain returned during the Rangers trip to Cleveland on Aug. 23. The pain hadn't reached the level he was feeling early in his initial comeback attempt in June.

"It hadn't gotten to that level, but the fear is that it would get to that level again, and the big thing is for us to try to get an answer as to why it's happening," he said. "We think it has something to do with the [Acu-Loc 2 Wrist Plating System], to what extent we don't really know. That's what hopefully this CAT scan will help reveal."

Jung finishes the season batting .264 with seven homers, five doubles, and 16 RBI in 46 games.

"Personally, it sucked having to deal with another injury," Jung said. "I missed 103 games the first go-round, let alone the off days and now the last nine or 10. So that's unfortunate. As a team, we just had expectations for ourselves, and we didn't meet them. So it is frustrating, but now we'll have that sour taste in our mouths, and hopefully, we all get to work this offseason and in 2025, ready to do it again.

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on X @StefanVersusTex.

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and X.