Rangers Surgery: When Will Top Prospect 'Knock Down The Door'?
Josh Jung is 23, so as it involves the Texas Rangers' top prospect, patience was already going to have to be a virtue - or, at least necessary.
And now? Jung is set for surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot, meaning a bit more patience - though Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels downplays any concerns about a true setback here.
“That opportunity, as far as Josh is concerned, I don’t think has moved back a whole lot,” Daniels said, noting that this year's delay in starting the minor league season could mean Jung misses only a couple of weeks. “Once he goes out and gets rolling and is productive, if he’s knocking the door down and performing at a level that we feel like he’s ready for the next challenge, we’ll respond.”
The highly-regarded prospect, a third baseman who was the eighth overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Texas Tech, is expected to need possibly eight weeks to recovery from the procedure, which will include the placement of a screw into his foot.
Jung, was slated to begin the season in the minor leagues, where he has already experienced some level of success. At two low minor league levels in his first pro year in 2019, he batted .316 with 28 RBI in 44 games. (COVID eliminated the opportunity for minor league play in 2020.)
This spring at camp in Surprise, Arizona, Jung was 2-for-7 in 10 games for Texas this year. When he is recovered, there is some question regarding whether he might begin at Triple-A Round Rock or Double-A Frisco.
But the idea is that eventually, Josh Jung will "knock the door down'' ... it'll just take a bit longer to approach the door.
Promo photo: Kelly Gavin / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
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