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Detroit Tigers third baseman Jace Jung sets goal for spring training
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- Detroit Tigers third baseman Jace Jung sets goal for spring training
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers want Jace Jung focused on making the Opening Day roster .
Good thing that's all he's thinking about.
"Make the team," Jung said. "That's my big goal for camp."
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For Jung to make the team, he needs to prove to president of baseball operations Scott Harris and manager A.J. Hinch that he can help at third base. The position is his for the taking after two-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman signed a short-term deal with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night over a long-term offer from the Tigers in free agency.
The loss of Bregman was Jung's gain.
"This time last year, I was pulling him in my office making sure he knew completely that he wasn't going to make this team," Hinch said Friday morning, when Jung reported to spring training. "Now I'm pulling him in the office and letting him know it's wide open for him to make."
Detroit Tigers infielder Jace Jung watches practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.
In 2024, Jung made his MLB debut in mid-August after being the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 draft.
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Jung hit .241 for the Tigers with zero home runs, 15 walks and 29 strikeouts across 34 games.
He hit .257 with 14 home runs, 67 walks and 93 strikeouts across 91 games in Triple-A Toledo. He has the upside to hit 20-plus home runs and has a competitive personality, but the 24-year-old needs to develop his footwork at third base.
"He can really hit," Hinch said. "He conducts a good at-bat. He knows how to get on base. There is not a pitcher in the league that he doesn't think he can hit. There's a lot to like with his mentality."
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Jung played through a wrist injury for about four months last season. His wrist started bothering him in mid-June, but he didn't undergo an arthroscopic procedure to address the inflammation until late October.
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He resumed swinging two weeks after the surgery.
"It was unbelievable," Jung said. "It was a big difference."
Before surgery, Jung experienced a pinching feeling in his wrist whenever he swung the bat. Not only was the wrist injury bothersome during games, but it also required pregame treatment and postgame rehab.
The wrist injury may have impacted his performance, especially on offense.
"It's one of those weird injuries," Jung said Friday morning. "It just lingered and needed to come out. The extra bone needed to come out. The bone was running on the other bone every time I swung. It was basically a chipped bone, so every time I hit, it just rubbed, rubbed, rubbed. I needed to get it removed."
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What is it like to swing without the bone chip?
"Relief," Jung said.
Aside from a healthy wrist, Jung has arrived to spring training prepared for his second full season of third base after transitioning from second base. He moved to third base for the first time in October 2023 in the Arizona Fall League.
Jung was worth minus-6 defensive runs saved at third base in 190 innings at the MLB level in 2024.
This spring, Jung will play almost exclusively at third base in pursuit of making the roster. He has the arm strength but must improve his footwork.
Detroit Tigers infielder Jace Jung practices in the batting cage during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025.
"I want to get better at everything," Jung said. "Third base is a big goal for me. My main thing right now is everything goes back to footwork, having good feet. If I can improve my footwork, I think I'll get way better at third base."
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The door is wide open for Jung — baseball's No. 6 third base prospect entering the season on MLB Pipeline — to establish himself as the Tigers' third baseman of the future. Next up on the prospect list is Hao-Yu Lee , but he won't make the Opening Day roster and projects to report to Toledo.
ROSTER PREDICTION 3.0: Searching for Tigers answers on Opening Day roster without Alex Bregman
Don't be surprised if Jung is the Opening Day third baseman , as long as the Tigers are facing a right-handed pitcher in the first game against the Los Angeles Dodgers .
"He loves baseball, and he loves to be around, and he loves the competition," Hinch said. "He's going to grow up and learn, kind of what we saw with Colt Keith and others. The break-in period, there were a few peaks and a few valleys, but then we saw the steady climb. I would expect his adjustments to be very similar."
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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: Jace Jung at third base: Door is open for Tigers prospect
