Rangers provide injury updates on Jung, Carter, Adolis

The Rangers were decimated by health issues, regression and a combination of the two as their World Series defense fell short without even making the postseason.

On Friday, the club gave a number of injury updates, mostly notably about third baseman Josh Jung, who underwent an ECU tendon release surgery performed on his right wrist by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Jung missed the majority of the year with a fractured right wrist after being hit with a pitch just four games into the regular season. Throughout his rehab, Jung endured discomfort near the surgical site, which slowed his progress until he returned to the active roster on July 29. That discomfort returned throughout the final few weeks of the season, causing the Rangers to shut him down for the final road trip.

Jung had a slash line of .264/.298/.421 in 46 games in 2024. Before fracturing his wrist, he had gone 7-for-17 with two walks, one double, one triple and two homers over the first four games.

"After evaluating multiple medical opinions regarding the lingering issue with his wrist, it was collectively decided that Josh should have the release surgery now to ensure that he can have a normal offseason and be fully ready for Spring Training,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said in a statement. “There was a lot of uncertainty with the other options and this will give us clarity on his timeline. Following a recovery period of three to four weeks, Josh will be able to begin regaining strength in the wrist and start his regular offseason activity."

The Rangers also announced that outfielder Evan Carter had an ablation procedure performed by Dr. Troy Foster in Dallas last week.

Carter missed the majority of the regular season with a back strain. He initially missed seven games from May 11-17 with back soreness, but he returned without an IL stint. The Rangers then placed Carter on the injured list on May 28. A return looked possible when he rejoined the club around the All-Star break and ramped up activities, but Carter never felt healthy enough for a rehab stint.

Overall in 2024, he slashed .188/.272/.361 in 45 games.

The 22-year-old has an optimistic outlook for 2025 and he has started a hitting progression at TMI in Arlington earlier this week.

All-Star outfielder Adolis García will also begin rehab for a left patella tendon strain after being examined by Dr. Daniel Cooper in Dallas earlier this week. The plan is for him to begin a normal offseason program after eight weeks of rehab.

García missed time with a right knee injury in 2023 and also missed the final two games of the ‘23 World Series with an oblique injury.

Neither injury seemed to hinder him to start the 2024 season, when he slashed .301/.359/.570, but then he went on a months-long slump that lasted until the final weeks of the regular season. He hit .293/.339/.500 over his last 15 games, but finished the year with a .684 OPS.

Young said he didn’t believe health had anything to do with García’s struggles this year.

“He had a great season health wise,” Young said. "At the end of the season, he felt a little bit of the knee issue, which was similar to -- on a lesser scale -- where it was last year, when he missed some time. This is something he's going to manage moving forward. I think this year, we did a great job of being able to manage that. The staff did a great job of finding guys to get him off his feet, DH days, off days, stuff like that. We'll continue to do it, not just with Adolis, but with all of our players. The workload management's important aspect to their recovery and their ability to perform consistently.”