Swinging Again! Texas Rangers Third Baseman Josh Jung Ramping Up After Three-Week Inflammation Setback

The Texas Rangers are hopeful that third baseman Josh Jung and outfielder Evan Carter, both out with injuries, are available to return a week or two after the All-Star break.

Jul 3, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung during team warmups before the game against the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports / Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON — Injured Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung is swinging a bat again for the first time in three weeks and hopes to resume a rehab assignment after the All-Star break.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Jung has swung in the cages the past two days in Houston using a light-load bat as he ramps back up. Jung is set to swing with a regular bat before Sunday's first-half finale at Minute Maid Park.

"He looks good," Bochy said. "He'll be probably closer to starting a rehab right after the break."

Jung had surgery on his right wrist after being hit by a pitch in the first week of the season. He was on schedule to return to the Rangers lineup last month before inflammation near the surgical screws in his wrist sidelined him.

"He feels great. So we're going to start ramping him up. He wants to be ramped up now," Bochy said. "I think he's comfortable with what we call the big boy bat."

The next step includes facing higher velocity pitches in a few days.

The former All-Star has left an understandable void in the Rangers lineup despite Josh Smith's heroic first half filling in for him.

Outfielder Evan Carter has been out since May 27 with a lumbar sprain and is in Arizona rehabbing. The Rangers hope he's an option to to return after a minor league rehab assignment, which could start after the All-Star break. Jung and Carter could both be with Triple-A Round Rock when they host Oklahoma City July 19-21.

The Rangers are seven games back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West and six back of the second-place Houston Astros before Saturday's games. The club knows it needs to put together a stretch of winning baseball ahead of the July 30 trade deadline to give Rangers ownership a reason to believe the club has another postseason run in them.

"They're still a little ways away, but I never stopped believing in this team with what they showed me last year, and that's how I feel," Bochy said. "We've gotten on a little bit of roll. Yeah, we lost the last two, but two games that could have gone either way. We're still just focused on finishing strong here these next two, and we know we've got some help coming, but we have to do it ourselves right now."

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