ARLINGTON, Texas – Josh Jung hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat for the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Globe Life Field.
Jung, the Rangers’ No. 1 overall prospect, hit a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence off Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling to give the Rangers their first run of the game. Texas fell to 3-1 on the season.
Jung is the second Ranger player to homer in his first MLB at-bat. The first was Jurickson Profar on September 2, 2012 in Cleveland. Jung is the first to do it at home.
Jung played baseball for Texas Tech and was a former Big 12 Player of the Year. He later became a first-round pick of the Rangers.
Former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes is now playing quarterback with Kansas City and has been watching the Chiefs prepare for their season opener against Arizona.
Jung made his first MLB start Friday against Toronto, nearly six months after a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder required surgery and nearly ended his chance to play in 2022.
Instead, when Jung was able to return to the field, he straightened his shoulder and caught fire.
On July 28, the Rangers sent Jung to their Arizona Complex League team for some at-bats to rehab. He quickly went from being only DH to playing third, hitting .240 with three home runs and 5 RBI in eight games and 25 at-bats. That was enough for the Rangers to send him to Triple-A Round Rock, where Jung hit .348 with nine home runs and 21 RBI last season.
He joined the Express on August 9 and began hitting tape measure home runs regularly. He finished with a .273 average, six home runs and 24 RBI. He hit five home runs in the first eight games and started taunting Rangers fans by calling them early.
In the year Since turning pro in late 2019, Jung has slashed .311/.381/.538/.919 (187-for-602) with 30 home runs, 43 doubles, and 118 RBI over 153 career games. League, including hitting .308/.377/.577/.954 in 109 games over the last 2 seasons.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Jung ranks among all minor league hitters (at least 400 plate appearances) in slugging percentage (11th, .577) and OPS (14th, .954), leading the Texas minor leagues in those categories over that span. .
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