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Why Detroit Tigers called up Jace Jung, Trey Sweeney: '6 weeks ... better than 4 weeks'
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- Why Detroit Tigers called up Jace Jung, Trey Sweeney: '6 weeks ... better than 4 weeks'
The Detroit Tigers called up third baseman Jace Jung and shortstop Trey Sweeney with 40 games remaining in the 2024 season. The infield prospects are set to make their MLB debuts in Friday's game against the New York Yankees .
The Sept. 29 season finale is six weeks and two days away.
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It's an evaluation period as the Tigers plan for 2025.
"Six weeks is better than five weeks, which is better than four weeks when September gets here," manager A.J. Hinch said on Friday. "The more time that we could have, the better. The faster we get these guys acclimated to being big leaguers, the better they'll be. We've seen that with every young player."
Detroit Tigers infielders Jace Jung practices during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.
SITTING OUT: Tigers' Colt Keith sidelined with left hamstring soreness, considered day-to-day
The prospect promotions were two of five roster moves:
∎ Third baseman Jace Jung , shortstop Trey Sweeney 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 .
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∎ Outfielder Akil Baddoo optioned to Triple-A Toledo for the fifth time this season.If the Tigers option him again, they'll have to put him on waivers — and risk losing him — before assigning him to the minor leagues.
∎ Third baseman Gio Urshela, a nine-year veteran, designated for assignment .He is still owed approximately $353,000 of his $1.5 million salary, which the Tigers will pay unless Urshela is claimed off waivers.
∎ Left-handed reliever Easton Lucas designated for assignment.
President of baseball operations Scott Harris didn't discuss the reason or the timeline for the prospect promotions, and the prospects promoted didn't speak about their call-ups as part of a year-long organizational effort to make MLB debuts as stress-free as possible.
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But Hinch talked at length Friday about both Jung and Sweeney.
He met with them before Friday's game.
"It's the biggest smiles I'm going to see in my office," Hinch said. "I just want them to soak up every bit of 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 assure both of them that they're going to get opportunities the next day. I don't want them hanging on every at-bat as if it's their last. ... I try to diffuse any of the stress or any of the tension or any of the anxiousness that comes with the first day."
There are 44 days remaining in the 2024 season, which means both Jung and Sweeney will keep their rookie statuses for the 2025 season (and stay eligible for rookie awards) as long as they don't exceed 130 at-bats in the final 40 games (an average of 3.25 at-bats per game). The threshold for maintaining rookie status is no more than 45 days on an active roster, which set Friday as the first day new players could be promoted in 2024 without losing their 2025 rookie status.
Detroit Tigers infielder Jace Jung prepares for a plate appearance with the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League on November 1, 2023 in Peoria, Arizona.
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Jung, 23, hit .257 with 14 home runs, 67 walks and 93 strikeouts in 91 games with Triple-A Toledo. He has struggled with the glove in his first season playing third base, making 12 errors in 65 games, but the Tigers will keep him at the hot corner to accommodate 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 in the 2022 draft out of Texas Tech.
"It's been a learning curve for him, just the natural instincts at third, the position," Hinch said. "He has the best mentor, a really talented brother who's doing it at this level. We have some ways and ideas on how to get him better. ... The bat has really been real. We've always liked the offensive profile. Obviously, he's a threat at any given time. He's handled right-handed pitching. He defends himself against lefties. He'll put the ball in play. He's a really good competitor."
Sweeney, 24, hit .267 with 15 home runs, 49 walks and 130 strikeouts across 107 games in Triple-A Oklahoma City (96 games) and Triple-A Toledo (11 games). He hit .255 with a .761 OPS before the trade to the Tigers, but after the trade, he hit .381 with a 1.114 OPS.
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The Tigers acquired Sweeney — the No. 20 overall pick by the New York Yankees in the 2021 draft out of Eastern Illinois — from the Los Angeles Dodgers as one of two prospects in the Jack Flaherty trade in the final minutes before the July 30 trade deadline.
"The defensive profile has always been really good," Hinch said, "and you can't deny the short burst of performance that he's had while he's been a Mud Hen. Even leading into the trade, when we talked about getting him, we talked about his ability to impact the game on multiple sides of the ball, not just a defensive specialist but also a left-handed bat and a middle-of-the-field player. He's got bat-to-ball skills. He's got some power. He can direct the ball to left-center field, oppo, which is always your traditional view of a good hitter who can handle moving the ball around the field."
Trey Sweeney of the Los Angeles Dodgers at bat against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training exhibition at the Peoria Sports Complex on Feb. 24, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona.
On defense, Sweeney made 14 errors in 92 games at shortstop with Oklahoma City, along with one error in two games at third base.
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Hinch hasn't evaluated Sweeney in person, only seeing videos of his time in the Yankees' and Dodgers' organizations, but he believes Sweeney will stick at shortstop in the big leagues, rather than turning into a utility player confined to third base and second base.
If he does so, Sweeney will cut into veteran Javier Báez 's playing time at shortstop. Hinch, though, plans to start Báez at shortstop in next week's series against the Chicago Cubs — the veteran's first return to Wrigley Field since signing a six-year deal with the Tigers in December 2021 — which would move Sweeney to third base.
"If you look at his range, if you look at his arm, if you look at all the attributes you would want as a shortstop, he has them," Hinch said. "I'd like to spend some time with him before I declare anything about him. But I know the people that have talked about him initially, people in the industry who reached out to me, people with the Dodgers that I talked to, he's been a favorite because of the fundamentals, because of the things that he does naturally on defense to handle the position."
As for prospect rankings, Jung and Sweeney are ranked as the Nos. 5 and 20 prospects in the Tigers' organization, according to MLB Pipeline . Jung also ranks as the No. 64 prospect in baseball. Both players hit better against right-handed pitchers.
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Tigers called up prospects Jace Jung, Trey Sweeney
