ARLINGTON — The first Texas Rangers position player to land on the injured list this season is one who’s already seen far too much of it in his young career.
The Rangers placed third baseman Josh Jung on the 10-day injured list Sunday after his recurring neck spasms did not subside. Jung broke camp with some neck stiffness, played opening day vs. the Boston Red Sox and started the series’ second game before he was removed after a flareup. He did not play in Saturday’s 4-3 win.
Related:What Rangers’ Bruce Bochy had to say about Josh Jung leaving game vs. Boston
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy expects Jung to be ready for activation once the minimum number of days on the injured list is up. Jung was placed on the injured list retroactive to March 28 and will be eligible for activation March 7 against the Chicago Cubs.
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“He probably will get three or four extra days where he could’ve been ready,” Bochy said, “but maybe that’s a good thing to get this thing cleared up. It is a recurring issue.”
This is Jung’s fourth trip to the injured list in the last three seasons. His wrist was fractured by a Phil Maton pitch in the fourth game of last season and he missed more than two-thirds of the year in part due to a stop-and-start rehab process. He missed 40 games during the 2023 season largely due to a broken thumb — which occurred when he attempted to field a hard-hit Jorge Soler line drive — and was limited to just 58 total games in 2022 due to a torn labrum.
It’s caused him to miss nearly half (156 of 324) of the Rangers’ games in the last two seasons. He’s been only an impact bat when healthy, though, and his .765 OPS since the start of 2023 is the third-best among all Texas hitters who’ve taken at least 500 plate appearances in that span.
The Rangers recalled infielder Jonathan Ornelas from Triple-A Round Rock to take Jung’s place on the roster and help compensate for an increasing decline in infield depth. Super utility man Josh Smith started at third base Saturday in Jung’s place but was removed from the game in the first inning after he collided with a foul territory wall.
Smith was diagnosed with a left quad contusion and was given a day-to-day timeline. Bochy hopes that he can return for Monday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds but said that he could be used in Sunday’s game if there were an emergency need.
Ornelas started at shortstop Sunday and Ezequiel Duran started at third base.
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