Will Detroit Tigers fans soon see Jackson Jobe as a pitcher in the Major Leagues?
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The Detroit Tigers have called up third baseman Jace Jung and shortstop Trey Sweeney, 40 games before the end of the 2024 season. The two infield talents made their MLB debut on Friday in the game against the New York Yankees.
The season finale on September 29th is still six weeks and two days away.
This is an evaluation phase as the Tigers plan for 2025.
“Six weeks is better than five weeks, and that’s better than four weeks when September comes,” manager AJ Hinch said Friday. “The more time we have, the better. The faster we get these guys acclimated to major league life, the better they’re going to be. We’ve seen that with every young player.”
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The potential promotions were two of five roster changes:
∎ Third baseman Jace Jung and shortstop Trey Sweeney were selected from Triple-A Toledo. In Friday’s game, Jung batted fifth and played third base and Sweeney batted eighth and played shortstop, facing Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole.
∎ Outfielder Akil Baddoo was sent to Triple-A Toledo for the fifth time this season. If the Tigers re-sign him, they will have to place him on the waivers list – and risk losing him to another team – before sending him to the minor leagues.
∎ Third baseman Gio Urshela, a nine-year veteran, was designated for assignment. He is still owed about $353,000 of his $1.5 million salary, which the Tigers will pay unless Urshela is claimed off waivers by another team.
∎ Left-handed reliever Easton Lucas was designated for assignment. He pitched in three games with the Tigers, all in late July, and in 21 games with the Mud Hens.
President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris did not discuss the reason or timing of the junior players’ promotions, and the promoted junior players did not talk about their call-ups, part of a years-long organizational effort to make MLB debuts as stress-free as possible.
But Hinch spoke at length about Jung and Sweeney on Friday.
He met with them before the game on Friday.
“Those are the biggest smiles I’ll see in my office,” Hinch said. “I just want them to soak up every experience. I tell them all they’re not going to remember much of the day, but there’s only one first day. … I want to reassure both of them that they’re going to get opportunities the next day. I don’t want them hanging on to every shot like it’s their last. … I try to take away any stress, tension or nervousness that comes with the first day.”
There are 44 days left until the 2024 season, meaning both Jung and Sweeney will retain their rookie status for the 2025 season (and remain eligible for rookie awards) as long as they do not have more than 130 at-bats in the final 40 games (an average of 3.25 at-bats per game). The threshold for retaining rookie status is no more than 45 days on an active roster, which made Friday the first day new players could be promoted in 2024 without losing their 2025 rookie status.
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Jung, 23, posted a .257 batting average with 14 home runs, 67 walks and 93 strikeouts in 91 games for Triple-A Toledo. He struggled with the glove in his first season as a third baseman, making 12 errors in 65 games, but the Tigers will keep him at the hot corner to accommodate fellow rookie Colt Keith at second base.
The Tigers selected Jung – the younger brother of Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung – with the No. 12 overall pick out of Texas Tech in the 2022 draft.
“It’s been a learning curve for him, just the natural instincts at third,” Hinch said. “He’s got the best mentor, a really talented brother who’s doing it at this level. We have some options and ideas on how to make him better. … The bat has been really real. We’ve always liked the offensive profile. Obviously, he’s a threat at all times. He’s handled right-handed pitchers. He defends against left-handed pitchers. He puts the ball in play. He’s a really good competitor.”
Sweeney, 24, hit .267 with 15 home runs, 49 walks and 130 strikeouts in 107 games in Triple-A Oklahoma City (96 games) and Triple-A Toledo (11 games). Before being traded to the Tigers, he hit .255 with a .761 OPS, but after the trade, he hit .381 with a 1.114 OPS.
The Tigers acquired Sweeney – the New York Yankees’ 20th pick in the 2021 draft out of Eastern Illinois – in the final minutes before the July 30 transfer deadline as one of two young players in the Jack Flaherty trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The defensive profile has always been really good,” Hinch said, “and you can’t deny the short bursts of power he had while he was a Mud Hen. Even before the transfer, when we talked about bringing him in, we talked about his ability to impact the game on multiple sides of the ball, not just as a defensive specialist but as a left-handed hitter and center fielder. He’s got skills to hit the ball. He’s got some power. He can drive the ball to left midfield, oppo, whatever your traditional idea of a good hitter is that can handle moving the ball down the field.”
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On defense, Sweeney made 14 errors as a shortstop for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate and just one error in just two games as a third baseman.
Hinch has not personally evaluated Sweeney, only watching videos of his performances with the Yankees and Dodgers, but he believes Sweeney will remain at the shortstop position in the major leagues rather than developing into an all-around player limited to third and second base.
“If you look at his range, if you look at his arm, if you look at all the traits you want in a shortstop, he has them,” Hinch said. “I’d like to spend some time with him before I say anything about him. But I know the people who talked about him initially, people in the industry who reached out to me, people at the Dodgers that I talked to. He was a favorite because of the fundamentals, because of the things he does on defense naturally to master the position.”
Sweeney will cut into veteran Javier Báez’s playing time at shortstop, which could evolve into a two-man platoon time-splitting in 2025. Hinch plans to use Báez at shortstop in next week’s series against the Chicago Cubs — Sweeney will be moved to third base. It will be Báez’s first return to Wrigley Field since the 2021 trade deadline.
As for the rookie rankings, Jung and Sweeney are the Tigers’ 5th and 20th-ranked prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Jung is also the 64th-ranked prospect in baseball. Both players hit better against right-handed pitchers.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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