Rangers' 3B Josh Jung Out Indefinitely With Fracture Right Wrist

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung suffered a fractured right wrist when he was hit by a pitch by a fastball thrown by Rays reliever Phil Maton in the ninth inning of Monday’s game.

By video, Jung was hit on the pinky side of the right wrist, meaning he likely has a fractured ulna, according to our panel of doctors.

The relatively good news is the fracture does not involve the scaphoid bone, which carries a longer recovery timeline because of a lack of blood flow.

Josh Jung Return Timeline

Jung, 26, will miss a minimum of eight weeks with a full timeline depending on the exact type of fracture and any additional damage revealed upon MRI.

In June 2023, Giants outfield Mitch Haniger suffered a fractured right wrist on a similar pitch and missed 10 weeks.

Haniger underwent surgery to repair the wrist fracture, but it remains to be seen if Jung will require surgery on his wrist.

Jung has had tough injury luck in his short career. He missed half of the 2021 season with a stress fracture in his left foot and underwent surgery to fix a torn left labrum in spring 2022.

He played 122 games last season and his .266 with 23 home runs, 70 RBIs and 75 runs scored. Jung also had a .315 on-base percentage and a .467 slugging.

This season he was hitting .308 with 1 home run over the first three games.

Impact on the Rangers

Texas is thin as far as options to replace Jung at the hot corner. Justin Foscue was one of the last players optioned to AAA.

Last season in AAA, Foscue hit .266 in 122 games with 18 home runs and 84 RBIs. He did play a majority of the games at second base and had a .893 fielding percentage at third.

Jonathan Ornelas is the only other infielder on the 40-man roster. He was called up for 8 games last season, hitting .143 over just 8 plate appearances.

In AAA last year, he hit .253 in 114 games with 85 games at short and 4 at third base.

Josh Smith figures to be the best fielding option at third base, but Ezequiel Duran also played 22 games there last season.