There has been a lot of talk after the spending spree that brought Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to the Texas Rangers to lead the franchise moving forward in the middle infield.
That leaves Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andy Ibanez and Nick Solak in limbo.
Ben Dieter, our co-host on The Ranger Report Podcast, agrees with a recent article written by our new brethren at Dallas Sports Nation. They think IKF is gonna be your third baseman.
My answer – with a laugh, no.
Josh Jung is gonna be your third baseman next year. Period.
If you listened to our live podcast earlier this week, you know my feelings on this — and those feelings are agreed upon by none other than John Moore, of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.
Jung, coming off a major foot injury, ate minor-league pitching alive. He hit .326 with a .990 OPS, 19 home runs and 61 RBIs. Jung has a career MiLB slash line of .322/.394/.932.
That will translate to the bigs. Jung has proven that he’s not afraid of the competition. In fact, he welcomes it.
Jung was tearing up Spring Training in 2021 before his foot injury shelved him, and there was talk that he might open the season as the starting third baseman last year. But his injury put those speculations to bed.
I’m here to tell you, right now, that Josh Jung will be your starting third baseman in 2022. Not IKF, not Andy Ibanez or anyone else. I’ll die on this hill.
And I’m not alone. The Rangers organization wants him to continue this tear and solidify the hot corner for years to come. The time is now.
It’s Jung’s job to lose. And I don’t think he will lose. The proof is in the pudding.
New Year’s Eve Thoughts: Josh Jung is your third baseman
