Josh Jung, born Joshua Ryne Jung in San Antonio, Texas, to Jeff and Mary Jung, on February 12, 1998, is a “homegrown kid.” And, for Jung, being a “homegrown kid” means everything. In December 2023, Jung told USA Baseball: “It means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to my family … I get to have them at most of my games because it’s not that far, for an organization to have a ‘homegrown kid,’ it gives them someone to cheer for.”
Although Jung isn’t from a small town, the 26-year-old third baseman had his unique road to glory with the Texas Rangers. Jung attended Douglas MacArthur High School, where he played baseball and football. He went undrafted out of high school in the 2016 MLB Draft, so he enrolled in Texas Tech to play college baseball for the Red Raiders.
Jung enjoyed a promising college baseball career as a Red Raider in Lubbock, Texas. He started all 62 games at third base in 2017, which led him to being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American by various outlets, such as Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game/Rawlings. He started all 65 games at third base in 2018, which led to him being named a Sophomore All-American and the All-Big 12 First Team. He was named a Preseason All-American before his junior year in 2019. He missed two games and ended his streak of 139 consecutive starts during his junior year due to a quadricep strain but moved to shortstop upon returning. He was named the 2019 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year and the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. He also received an All-American nomination.
Josh Jung’s younger brother, Jace Jung, also played college baseball at Texas Tech. Jace became a first-round draft pick at the 2022 MLB Draft. Jung was dubbed one of the top prospects in 2019. And, rightfully so, Jung was selected with the eighth overall pick in the first round by the Texas Rangers at the 2019 MLB Draft.
After signing with the Texas Rangers for a $4.4 million signing bonus on July 3, 2019, Jung began his professional baseball career in the minor leagues. Jung made his professional baseball debut with the Arizona League Rangers of the Arizona Complex League (ACL) and hit a home run in his first professional at-bat before being promoted to the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League (Sally League), the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, and the Round Rock Express of the Pacific Coast League (PCL).
Jung went on to the big leagues on September 9, 2022, for the Texas Rangers of the MLB. Jung’s MLB debut took place the same day, where he hit a home run off of Toronto Blue Jays’ Ross Stripling in his first big league at-bat, becoming the second Texas Rangers player to do so, trailing Jurickson Profar.
Jung continued his big-league success in 2023. Jung’s up-and-coming MLB career was highlighted by his leading American League (AL) rookies in hits (27), home runs (6), and total bases (44), his leading MLB rookies with 21 runs batted in (RBI), his voting in of starting third baseman for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, and of course, his winning of the 2023 World Series with the Texas Rangers.
But there’s more to Jung than meets the eye. Jung has attributed his drive to success on the baseball field to his desire to praise God for what He’s done and not necessarily to make himself look great.
In October 2019, Jung was interviewed by a pastor at a church he attended at Texas Tech from 2017-19. The Texas Tech alum detailed his journey of faith and told Sports Spectrum: “Sports aren’t gonna last forever. Being a baseball player is not gonna last forever, and eventually, your name will fade away … When all that’s over, where is your identity gonna be? Who are you gonna be?”
Jung knows his identity is in Christ. Jung’s Twitter bio mentions in part: “Baseball is what I do, not who I am” and describes himself as a “Competitor for Christ” for that matter. Jung gave his life to Christ in his freshman year of high school, took a crucial step of a journey with Christ in his freshman year of college, and never looked back, according to an interview with HisHuddle.com in December 2020.
Jung is expected to miss at least three weeks with a calf injury as of February 17, 2024. Resilience forgives that we keep perspective in the face of adversity, and I’m sure that Jung will be alright, both physically and mentally. Praying for his fast recovery and quick return to the baseball field.
