Joshua Ryne Jung (; born February 12, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

, and was drafted by the Rangers in the first round of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

Amateur career

Born and raised in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, Jung attended Douglas MacArthur High School, where he played baseball and football. Undrafted out of high school in the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

, he enrolled at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

to play

for the Red Raiders. In 2017, as a freshman at Texas Tech, Jung started all 62 games at third base, batting .306 with six home runs and 43 RBIs. He was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was named a Freshman All-American by multiple outlets including

Collegiate Baseball ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

and Perfect Game/Rawlings. He was also named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team and the All-Big 12 Second Team. That summer, he played in the

California Collegiate League The California Collegiate League (CCL), founded in 1993, is a collegiate summer baseball league headquartered in Moorpark, California, United States. It is associated with both the National Baseball Congress and National Alliance of College Su ...

where he hit .368 with two home runs, 31 RBIs, and a .454

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

over 117

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. As a sophomore in 2018, Jung once again started all 65 of Texas Tech's games at third base, hitting .392/.491/.639 with 12 home runs and 80 RBIs. He was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, and was once again named an All-American by outlets such as

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

and

. He played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that summer. Jung was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game,

, D1Baseball.com, and

prior to his junior year. During the season, he missed two games due to a quadricep strain, ending his streak of 139 consecutive starts. After returning, he moved to

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He was named the 2019 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year (along with Baylor's

Davis Wendzel Davis McKee Wendzel (born May 23, 1997) is an American professional baseball infielder in the Cincinnati Reds organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers. He played college baseball for the Baylor ...

) after batting .333 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs through 49 games. He was named an All-American by

, D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, ABCA, and

NCBWA The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the na ...

. Jung was the recipient of the 2019

Bobby Bragan Robert Randall Bragan (October 30, 1917 – January 21, 2010) was an American shortstop, catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball and an influential minor league executive. His professional baseball career encompassed 73 years, from ...

Collegiate Slugger Award, which honors the top Division I baseball player within Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma each season. Jung finished his junior year hitting .343/.474/.636 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 64 games. Considered one of the top prospects for the

, he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the first round, with the eighth overall pick.

Professional career

Minor leagues

On July 3, 2019, Jung signed with the Rangers for a $4.4 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. On July 10, 2019, Jung made his professional debut with the

Arizona League Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

, hitting a home run in his first professional

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. On July 15, Jung was promoted to the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

and hit .287/.363/.389/.752 with one home run and 23 RBIs over forty games for them. Jung did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On March 20, 2021, it was announced that Jung would undergo surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot and miss six to eight weeks. He was activated on June 15 and assigned to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

of the

Double-A Central The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. After hitting .308/.366/.544 with ten home runs and forty RBIs over 43 games, he was promoted to the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

of the

Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Base ...

in mid-August. Over 35 games with Round Rock, Jung hit .348/.436/.652 with nine home runs, 21 RBIs, and 14 doubles. Jung entered the 2022 season as the ninth ranked overall prospect in baseball by

FanGraphs FanGraphs.com is a website run by Fangraphs Inc., located in Arlington, Virginia, and created and owned by David Appelman that provides statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. On September 18, 2009, Fangraphs Inc. launched ...

, and the 26th overall prospect by

. On February 23, 2022, Jung underwent surgery to repair a

torn Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * Torn (2021 film), an American documentary film * ''Torn'' (TV series), a 2007 Briti ...

labrum in his left shoulder. Jung returned to game action at the end of July, first appearing in eight rehab games for the Arizona Complex League Rangers, before returning to Round Rock in August. Over 23 games with Round Rock, he hit .273 with six home runs and 24 RBIs.

Texas Rangers

2022

On September 9, 2022, the Rangers selected Jung's contract from Triple-A and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night and in his very first at-bat, he hit a home run off of

Ross Stripling Thomas Ross Stripling (born November 23, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics. Stripling p ...

of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. The feat made him only the second Rangers player to do so alongside

Jurickson Profar Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar (born February 20, 1993) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego ...

. Jung appeared in 26 games for Texas in 2022, hitting .204/.235/.418/.654 with five home runs and 14 RBI over 102 plate appearances.

2023

Jung was named the AL Rookie of the Month in April 2023 after leading AL rookies in hits (27), home runs (6), and total bases (44). His 21 runs batted in (RBI) were the most among all rookies. He followed that up by winning AL Rookie of the Month for May 2023. Jung was voted in as the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

starting third baseman for the

2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 93rd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). The game was played on July 11, 2023, and was broadc ...

. Jung became the first rookie to start in an All-Star game as a Texas Ranger. He won the World Series with the Rangers in 2023.

2024

After playing in just four games, Jung suffered a fractured wrist following a hit by pitch, and was ruled out for 8–10 weeks after undergoing surgery. He was activated from the injured list on July 29, 2024. Jung finished the season with 46 games played, hitting .264/.298/.421/.719, tallying 7 home runs and 16 RBIs.

2025

Jung was optioned to AAA on July 3rd.

Personal life

Jung is a Christian. His parents, Jeff and Mary Jung, are both teachers in the

North East Independent School District The North East Independent School District (commonly NEISD or North East ISD) is a school district located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. North East ISD serves the north-central and northeast areas of Bexar County, covering about . North ...

. Jung's younger brother,

Jace Jung Jace Andrew Jung (; born October 4, 2000) is an American professional baseball second baseman and third baseman for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Early life and ama ...

, played college baseball at Texas Tech and was a first-round draft pick in 2022.

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jung, Josh 1998 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona Complex League Rangers players Arizona League Rangers players Baseball players from San Antonio Douglas MacArthur High School (San Antonio) alumni Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Major League Baseball third basemen Round Rock Express players Texas Rangers players Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball players United States national baseball team players