Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung suffered a fractured hand when he was hit by a pitch yesterday, putting an end to Jung’s 2026 season.
This is the third time that Jung, who has been plagued by injuries during his professional career, has had a broken bone sideline him in the last four seasons. In 2023, he fractured his left thumb catching a line drive. In 2024, he went on the injured list the first week of the season with a fractured wrist that ended up costing him almost four months.
Jung was
having the best offensive season of his career this year, slashing .299/.363/.462 with a 139 OPS+. Jung also missed around six weeks due to a calf strain suffered in July.
The loss of Jung hurts the Rangers as they continue to try to come back in the division race against the Houston Astros, especially given that they also are without Joc Pederson due to a fractured hand suffered on a hit by pitch. Both the Astros and the Rangers lost yesterday, dropping them both to 79-81. This guarantees that whoever wins the American League West will not have a winning record.
