Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers selected third basemen Josh Jung (8th overall) and Davis Wendzel (41st overall), and right-handed pitcher Ryan Garcia (50th overall) on the first day of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The 21-year-old Jung was named Big 12 Co-Player of the year at Texas Tech University, after posting a .332/.471/.609/1.080 (67-202) slash line with 21 2B, 11 HR, 53 RBI, and 49 BB/37 SO in his junior season. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Jung’s 21 doubles ranked 2nd in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally. Jung was one of 25 collegiate players on the semifinal list for the Golden Spikes award for a second straight season. Since moving to shortstop on April 14, Jung has led Texas Tech to a 17-6 record and a berth in NCAA Super Regional this weekend.
Josh Jung hit .392/.491/.639/1.130 with 12 HR and 80 RBI during his sophomore campaign with the Red Raiders, earning All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (2nd Team), NCBWA (2nd Team), Baseball America (2nd Team), D1 Baseball (2nd Team), and Perfect Game (2nd Team). The right-handed batter and thrower was a unanimous First Team All-Big 12 honoree.
Wendzel, 22, batted .367/.484/.610/1.094 (65-177) with 9 HR and 42 RBI over 46 games for Baylor University as a junior this season. The right-handed batter and thrower shared Co-Big 12 Player of the Year honors with Jung, leading the conference in batting average and on-base percentage. He committed only 2 errors in 102 fielding chances at third base. Over his three-year career in Waco, the San Clemente, California native batted .326 with 24 home runs and 121 RBI over 154 games, posting 100 walks against 99 strikeouts. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round last season as a draft eligible sophomore, but did not sign.
The 21-year-old Garcia was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year after going 10-0 with a 1.39 ERA (13 ER/84.1 IP) with 107 strikeouts in 14 games/12 starts while limiting opponents to a .159 (46-290) batting average with UCLA this season. He allowed two earned runs or less in all 12 of his starts while averaging 6.78 innings per start. The junior right-hander was a First-Team All-America selection and was also a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy and is on the watchlist for the College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year award.
In his three seasons with the Bruins, the right-handed pitcher is 20-1 with a 2.13 ERA (41 ER, 173.1 IP) with 196 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .171 batting average in 52 games/24 starts. He was a three-year varsity baseball letter-winner at La Salle High School in Pasadena, California.
The draft continues at 12 Noon CT on Tuesday, a day that is scheduled to cover rounds 3 through 10.
From Rangers PR staff reports
