SEATTLE — The Texas Rangers sent third baseman Josh Jung to Triple-A Round Rock on a minor league injury rehab assignment Tuesday. Jung is expected to bat second and serve as the Express’ designated hitter that night at Salt Lake, with first pitch scheduled for 7:35 p.m. CT.
Jung has been on the 10-day injured list since July 25, retroactive to July 22, with a left calf strain. A position player may spend up to 20 days on a rehab assignment.
July 21 against the Chicago White Sox remains Jung’s most recent major league game. He singled and scored in the third inning of a 10-0 win before leaving. Texas recalled infielder Josh Smith from Round Rock when Jung went on the injured list, and Jung was eligible to come off it Aug. 1.
Josh Jung Led The Texas Rangers In Hits And Doubles
Jung was hitting .294/.361/.441 with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs through 92 games when the calf sidelined him. His 104 hits and 23 doubles led the Rangers at the time, and his batting average ranked fourth in the American League.
The calf has given Jung trouble before. A left calf strain cost him most of spring training in 2024, and another calf problem kept him out four games in 2025. Neither one put him on the injured list.
Texas selected Jung eighth overall out of Texas Tech in the 2019 draft. He made the American League All-Star team as a rookie in 2023 and was the Rangers’ regular third baseman during their World Series run that fall. He is a career .264/.313/.430 hitter through 417 games with 58 home runs and 196 RBIs.
Jung and the Rangers avoided arbitration with a one-year, $2.9 million contract for 2026. He is under club control and will be arbitration eligible again in 2027.
Skip Schumaker On Josh Jung’s Running Progression
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said before the Aug. 14 series opener against the Athletics in West Sacramento that Jung was scheduled to run that Sunday and would begin a defensive progression if the calf checked out afterward, according to Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.
“I don’t know how much baseball activity,” Schumaker said, “but at least some lower-half exercise — which means jogging, lifting, doing all that stuff to get his body ready, agility, all that stuff.”
Jung ran the bases at Globe Life Field for the first time since going on the injured list, and a live batting practice session followed. He took live at-bats last week against left-hander Robert Garcia.
Most of the third-base work since Jung went out has gone to Ezequiel Duran.
Texas opened its road trip at 71-73 with 18 games left, two games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West. The Rangers play the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park, with first pitch at 8:40 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
Round Rock is the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate. Salt Lake is the Triple-A club of the Los Angeles Angels.
