‘It’s a race to the big leagues,’ Texas Rangers manager says of third-base competition
Josh Jung is viewed by many as the Texas Rangers’ top prospect.
He plays third base, a need position for the Rangers, and he is a polished college hitter. That formula, along with some other variables, convinced the Rangers to make him their first-round draft pick last year.
Yet, he’s not the only quality third baseman in the farm system.
Sherten Apostel is making a name for himself during his first big-league spring training.
“It’s a race to the big leagues,” manager Chris Woodward said.
Apostel had made a name for himself in Rangers circles before he robbed Nolan Arenado, arguably the game’s top third baseman, of an extra-base hit Wednesday. His nine at-bats have been solid, though he has only one double to show for it.
The work he did in the offseason, mostly in Curacao with other professional players like Ozzie Albies and Jurickson Profar, is paying off. It’s not just the diving stop to his right on Arenado.
Apostel, acquired in the Keone Kela trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018, can feel the difference.
“I’ve got nothing to complain about,” he said Thursday. “I’m doing my best to try to show what I’ve got and what I’ve learned coming up and what I can do.”
He was replaced at third by Jung, who showed up to minor-league camp well before most position players in big-league camp arrived. Jung’s focus in the offseason was his swing, specifically finding the sweet spot more consistently.
Jung came to the Rangers with an advanced approach, and has proven to be a tough out in his three Cactus League at-bats as a just-in-case player from minor-league camp. He’s 0-for-3, yes, but he has made adjustments during at-bats and fought off pitches to extend at-bats.
“I feel great,” Jung said. “My first offseason, it was definitely a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, but at the same time it was so short. But I got in the cages, I got dirty with the training, and I came in here and hopefully will have a great season.”
Having Apostel and Jung coming through the system and trying to figure out where they end up playing once in the majors is one of those good problems to have.
The Rangers can play only one player at third base, and Apostel is determined to remain at third despite his size (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) and talk of him moving across the diamond. Some of that is fueled by Jung being in the organization.
“I don’t want to play anywhere else,” Apostel said. “It is a competition, but I just work on being as good as I can be, and he’s just working to be as good as he can be. I’m just trying to do my thing and impress, and that’s all I can do.”
