Rangers Injury Update: Max Scherzer, Josh Sborz, Josh Jung, and more

Texas Rangers fans have just come to expect some form of unfortunate injury news every other day or so this season. Texas' injured list looks far too similar to their actual World Series roster from last year and it is honestly kind of a miracle that they are only five games below .500 after unfortunately getting swept by the Mariners over the weekend.

While that trend did continue over the weekend with an update on one of their better hitters this season, the Rangers also got promising injury news on two core pieces of their roster that gives hope Texas is finally starting to get healthy.

Rangers News: Josh Jung to start rehab stint soon, but that could cost Josh Smith playing time

Josh Jung has been snakebitten by fluke injuries in the majors and unfortunately his broken wrist after getting hit by a pitch has kept him out for quite a while after suffering a setback. The good news, though, is that Jung has finally started his injury rehab assignment in the minor leagues where he played well (2-3, RBI) in his return over the weekend.

While that is great news for the Rangers given that Jung could be back in the next couple of weeks assuming all goes well, that news isn't as good for Josh Smith, who has been surprisingly awesome at the plate for Texas in 2024. Jung's return combined with Smith dealing with "general tightness" will make finding playing time for Smith a bit more of a challenge. Thankfully, Smith is also capable of playing in the outfield and the Rangers are likely to find a way to keep one of their best bats in the lineup.

Rangers News: Max Scherzer could return from IL this week

After dealing with multiple issues in his recovery from back surgery, including numbness in his pitching arm during rehab, it finally looks like Max Scherzer will take the mound in the big leagues again in 2024. Before his latest rehab start, manager Bruce Bochy indicated that outing could be Scherzer's final rehab, assuming everything went well.

After striking out eight batters and giving up three runs across 4.2 innings, there are no indications Scherzer had any issues. Given Scherzer pitched over the weekend, a good guess is that fans can expect to see him take the mound against the Royals later this week.

Rangers News: Josh Sborz is finally starting rehab assignment in what should boost the bullpen

Outside of Kirby Yates and David Robertson, Texas has had one of the worst bullpens in baseball this season and is in pretty desperate need of some good news, which finally came over the weekend. It was reported that Josh Sborz was starting his rehab assignment. Sborz has been out since the beginning of May with a rotator cuff injury, which was a considerable blow because he is a big part of the Rangers' bullpen depth.

While Sborz's first appearance back didn't go particularly well as he gave up two runs on two hits, the important thing is that he got 20 pitches in and his fastball sat in the mid 90s. A certain amount of rust is to be expected given Sborz's lengthy downtime. It might take him several appearances to get his feet back under him, but a return sometime next week isn't out of the question assuming he doesn't have a setback.

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