The Rangers are going to be without Josh Jung for the foreseeable future, but Bruce Bochy is hopeful it won’t be too long.
"I think closer to six weeks is what we’re kind of looking at,” Bochy said Tuesday in his weekly appearance on K&C Masterpiece. “Still don’t know exactly, it is his throwing arm, but I’m guessing six weeks.”
Bochy didn’t have a timeline on Jung when asked following the win over the Tampa Bay Rays, when Jung fractured his right wrist in the ninth inning. After the previous two hitters had been hit by pitches from Rays reliever Phil Maton, Jung was drilled with a pitch as he attempted to swing.
The injury soured what was otherwise a good night for the reigning World Series champions, who beat Tampa 9-3 at Tropicana Field.
“It was really tough to lose Josh," Bochy said. "Hard to enjoy a win when you lose one of your guys, and especially with Josh with all he’s been through, now he’ll have to go through it again. But he’ll be back, we talked to him after the game and said ‘Hey, you’ll be back. Just another bump in the road unfortunately.’
“Meanwhile, we’ve got to hold ground. We’ve got some guys that can fill in until he gets back, and that’s how we have to look at it. We did it all last year, no reason why we can’t this year.”
The Rangers have a few options to replace Jung in the interim.
Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith both can play third, and the Rangers also called up top prospect Justin Foscue on Tuesday. Although Foscue has spent the majority of his time in the minors at second base, he also has seen time at both corner infield spots.
For Jung, the latest setback is the continuation of challenges he has faced to stay healthy. A fractured thumb limited the 26-year-old to 122 games last season, and he’s also dealt with a torn labrum in his shoulder and a stress fracture in his foot in the past. Additionally, he immediately began dealing with calf discomfort when spring training began this season.
“We call it buzzard luck, that’s how bad it’s been,” Bochy said. “He was probably as good as he could be (after the game). He didn’t say anything, that’s how down he was. He was just so quiet, he’s a guy that talks all the time and he has so much energy, but this one got him I think. And I think mainly because he got hurt the first day of spring training and he just got back, and now he’s got to go through another rehab.
“But like I said, you’ve got to put it behind you, there’s nothing we can do about it, nothing he can do about it. Just keep working and he’ll be back here in six weeks or so. It's a long season, and knock on wood he’ll stay healthy the rest of the way.”