Josh Jung suffers broken left thumb

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung left Sunday’s game against the Miami Marlins in the top of the sixth inning after a play on a line drive by Jorge Soler. Per the beats, after the game, manager Bruce Bochy said that X-rays showed a fracture to his left thumb. He will presumably be placed on the injured list.

The play itself was a weird one. Soler smoked a 109 mph line drive that hit Jung’s glove and bounced off. There were runners on first and second, and the runners stayed put as it appeared it was a line out. Because the ball bounced off, however, Jung was able to grab the loose ball, touch third base for one out, and then throw to second base for a 5-4 double play.

Jung was looking at his left hand, but stayed in the game initially. After Andrew Heaney gave up a single to Josh Bell, though, the Rangers went to the bullpen for Chris Stratton. At that point, the trainer came out, and it was determined that Jung would come out of the game.

No indication yet as to how long Jung will be out. In the interim, it would seem that Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith will split time at third base in Jung’s absence. That potentially means more playing time for Travis Jankowski and Robbie Grossman. One would assume that Bubba Thompson will come up to take Jung’s spot on the roster for the time being.

Jonah Heim is seen as being potentially a couple of weeks away from returning from the injured list, if his left wrist doesn’t cause a level of pain that keeps him from being able to play. If Heim gets back, then the Rangers would seem likely to use Mitch Garver more at DH, allowing Smith and Duran to share time at third base and Grossman and Jankowski to share time in left field.