In 1st healthy spring, Jung focused on 'bringing the energy'
Kennedi Landry
@kennlandrySURPRISE, Ariz. -- Josh Jung thought about showing up to camp in bubble wrap or with mattresses duck taped around him like the kid in ¡°The Little Giants.¡±
¡°I thought that'd be funny,¡± Jung said. ¡°You know like in ¡®The Little Giants' where the kid is put in mattresses before football practice. I thought about doing something funny like that. I joked about it all offseason, but getting through day one and then day two and day three, it's been great. It just feels great to actually be healthy in Spring Training.¡±
The relief and excitement for Jung is evident.
The 27-year-old has missed all or most of the past three Spring Trainings. He sustained a low-grade calf strain at the start of last year¡¯s camp, delaying his start to the final week of Cactus League play. He also had a stress fracture in his foot going into camp in 2021 and then tore a labrum in his non-throwing shoulder during camp in '22.
Even his first year of pro ball was cut short in spring by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
So yeah, a full and healthy Spring Training is all Jung is asking for.
¡°I'm just excited to be on the field with the boys, especially in Spring Training,¡± Jung said. ¡°That's new to me. So it's good just to get around the new group, the new vibes have been great. It's just great to be back.¡±
Health has been the only thing holding Jung back in his professional career, both in spring and in the regular season. He¡¯s missed time over the past two years with a left thumb fracture in 2023 and a right wrist fracture in ¡®24.
That¡¯s not to say he¡¯s injury prone, but he¡¯s had a bad run of luck that hasn¡¯t done anybody any favors.
¡°You just hope that, you know, the bad luck is behind him,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said. ¡°To your point, they're kind of freakish type injuries, but we're hoping -- knock on wood -- he stays healthy. He's such a big part of this offense, and you hate to say he's injury prone, I don't think you want to put that label on him. He has missed some time, but hopefully that's behind him. It has been bad luck.¡±
Jung said his phrase of the year is ¡°be unimpressive.¡± He means that in the best way possible. If he just goes up to the plate every time out and tries to make good contact, sometimes it¡¯ll be a ball in the gap and sometimes it¡¯ll go over the wall. But that¡¯s how you dominate pitching staffs.
A healthy Jung no doubt helps the team on the field, but his impact off the field is maybe even greater.
¡°I'm just trying to bring the juice every day,¡± Jung said. ¡°That's what I say. Bring all the energy, make everybody laugh and just develop that team chemistry going into the year. I feel the vibe in the clubhouse, it feels different, truly. I can't put my finger on it yet, it's still really but it feels different. I think we got a great group of guys in general.¡±
Jung praised the new players the Rangers front office brought in like Joc Pederson and Jake Burger, and how they contribute to the vibes in general. But he also noted that the holdovers from last season are not happy with how their title defense went. Everybody is committed to having fun and winning baseball games.
On top of all that, Jung wants to try to be a bigger, more vocal leader in the clubhouse this season.
¡°I think you can always make the culture better,¡± Jung said. ¡°[Being a leader] is taking the culture we have up here and trying to instill it in these young guys, and then they take it back down and develop an organizational culture.¡±
What is that culture, with Jung as a leader?
¡°I'm still learning,¡± Jung said. ¡°It's a journey, for sure, but I am trying to take on more of a leadership role, being more vocal, which is definitely not something I've been in the past. It's a day-by-day process. I'm trying to bring the juice, trying to bring the energy, joking around, keeping everything light hearted, making sure people are smiling. I¡¯m just trying to instill that culture that we have a lot of fun, but I also want to say this, but it's like we're gonna have a lot of fun kicking your ass. That¡¯s the kind of culture we want to create.¡±