In Toledo, Jace Jung is back swinging like he talks ― freely: 'Do what's best for you'
Toledo ― Last week on a rainy, chilly afternoon at Fifth Third Field, Jace Jung was so cold during a dugout conversation with this Detroit reporter, his teeth eventually started chattering.
But Jung's bat, early this season with the Mud Hens, has gotten hot.
Jung came to spring training in Lakeland, Florida, in February with a realistic shot at becoming the Tigers' starting third baseman ― especially after the Tigers failed to sign Alex Bregman, and after Matt Vierling went down to an injury ― but he saw that opportunity go up in flames with a horrific camp at the plate. Now, he's finding his way again with the bat at Triple-A Toledo, including three hits Wednesday. Jung is batting .267 with a .436 on-base percentage and an .953 OPS. He has three homers in 60 at-bats, all while splitting time on defense between third base and second base.
"It's definitely a shot in the face," Jung said about the conversation this spring when Tigers manager AJ Hinch told him he'd be starting the season in Toledo, after ending it in the playoffs with the Detroit in 2024. "But, you know, it's just how you kind of handle business, go about your business.
"Obviously, I'm here now. I'm going to enjoy it while I'm here and wait for that call, whenever it comes. Right now, I'm just focused on playing here with these guys, focused on these guys.
"Definitely would love to be a part of it (another playoff run in Detroit), but they didn't see me being a part of it."
Jung, 24, isn't the only Mud Hen with major-league experience. He's not even the only Mud Hen who played a sizable role for the 2024 Tigers. There's also closer Jason Foley. And there was starter Keider Montero, who got the call back up to the Tigers earlier this week.
He is, however, the only first-round pick by the Tigers who played for them down the stretch in 2024 and is now in Toledo for the start of 2025. He was the No. 12 overall pick out of Texas Tech in 2022.
More: MLB Pipeline: Tigers' Jace Jung among top third-base prospects, but has 'most to prove'
Last season with the Tigers, he hit .241 with a .362 on-base percentage in 34 regular-season games. His scissor slide at home plate in a September win over the Kansas City Royals was a memorable moment that fans won't soon forget. Jung also had a few plate appearances in the postseason.
He looks forward to being a part of another postseason run with the Tigers in 2025, but he's not counting his chickens, either, not after he showed up at spring training being told only to worry about improving his defense, yet was sent down because of the struggles with his offense.
"Just go in there and show them I made improvements on defense and go out there and have fun," Jung said of his mindset entering spring training. "That was the main thing they told me I needed to work on ... them saying that they only wanted to see me improve defensively, and they told me in the meeting that they weren't worried about the bat. In the end, they were worried about the bat.
"Obviously, it took a second for the bat to wake up. I was never worried about the bat, but they were.
"So that's why I'm here."
In 33 spring at-bats, Jung hit just .121 with home run and one RBI. He struck out 10 times. He's still striking out plenty in Toledo, with 20 in 60 at-bats, but he's also walked 18 times.
Even as the Tigers stressed his defense was where he needed improvement, Jung said he was getting plenty of things to work on offensively, too ― perhaps even too much. Every hitting coach and front-office person had some new suggestion, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to please them all.
Eventually, Jung decided that he needed to do what works for him, and what made him a first-round pick.
It's a strikingly similar situation to Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 who hit 31 home runs in 2023, was demoted to Toledo in 2024 and lost any guarantee of a roster spot for 2025. The two have talked about Jung's plight.
"I've obviously been through it, so I know how it feels. It's not a great place to be, especially with his talent. You've got to keep the spirits up and trust that this is going to work out no matter what. And to put the work in and listen," Torkelson, who's off to a hot start for the Tigers in 2025 and has won his starting job back, said the other day in Milwaukee. "Take what you agree with and sometimes it's going to be uncomfortable. But give it a chance.
"He's been great his whole life. He's a first-round pick and they don't just hand those out. There is definitely some talent in there and a lot of ability that people saw to draft you there. Keep trusting that. That's what I did.
"He is a really talented player and he's going to have a great career."
Jung, who's never lacked for confidence, still believes that. He just believes he has to do it, in large part, his own way.
Too much advice can lead to too many tweaks, which can lead to being too mechanical, which can lead to being less athletic. Hinch has talked about getting Torkelson back to being more athletic in the box.
For Jung, he's back to swinging like he talks: Freely.
"You're trying to make the team so hard, you're trying to appease every single hitting coach, every single person in that office. I'm trying to appease every hitting guy telling me something different, so I'm trying to make it work and make them happy, because I think that's what's gonna help me make the team," Jung said. "And at the end of the day, you've gotta go out there and perform. You've gotta do what's best for you. You can't be listening to every single person, 'cause if you do that and try to appease too many people, it never really works out.
"They're trying to help me. ... It just didn't help. ... It kind of got me thinking a little bit too much."
Thinking is a good thing. Overthinking can be a bad thing ― especially when hitting is just half the job.
This season, the Tigers are working with Jung at both third base and second base. They drafted him as a second baseman in 2022, then moved him to third base in 2023, and that's where he played exclusively except for one cameo at second base for the Tigers in 2024. He's splitting time at both positions in Toledo with top-flight prospect Hao-Yu Lee, who might just be the one player at Toledo more intriguing than Jung.
Toledo manager Gabe Alvarez said the plan is for each of them to play one of the positions for two or three days in a row, then switch. Jung has been working with Tigers Hall-of-Fame shortstop Alan Trammell on his defense. Trammell stopped by Toledo last week, and they went through some drills, fist-pumping before they left the field.
That's one thing that you can say for certain about Jung: He's not afraid of some hard work.
"I had Jace in Erie," said Alvarez, in his first season managing the Mud Hens after three years managing the Double-A SeaWolves. "He's a tremendous ballplayer who works extremely hard. One thing that I'm very impressed with, from the very first day I coached him through every day in spring training through every day here in Triple A, he's the first player at the field. Every day. He wants to get better.
"When you have that desire, that drive, that leads to good things. That usually leads to guys having good careers.
"And that's something that he has, that internal drive to get better every day."
Of course, it doesn't hurt when your older brother, Josh, is an everyday player with the Texas Rangers, and a former All-Star. Sibling rivalry typically doesn't just stop with driver's licenses and graduations. That's not to say the two aren't close. They text regularly, and Josh is there for Jace, just like Torkelson.
Trammell, a Tigers front-office adviser who is making the rounds to several of the minor-league outposts this month, was working last week in Toledo with Jung, along with Billy Boyer, the Tigers' minor-league infield coordinator. Specifically, they were working on some timing adjustments.
Trammell sees the strides on defense, but mostly, he's impressed with Jung's attitude. When Jung got sent out of Tigers' major-league camp last month, he didn't go home and pout. He went right over to the minor-league fields.
"Oftentimes when a guy gets sent down, they give him the day and they go home and they kind of get their thoughts together, they call whomever, and they come back the next day," said Trammell, who's at High-A West Michigan this week. "(Jace) got sent out and he was out on the field the same day. That tells you something about him.
"Obviously, he wants to be in the big leagues. ... He recognizes there's still some areas of improvement."
Jung isn't the only player in Toledo who might be in the major leagues now, in a different situation. There are pitchers Foley (on the injured list), Andrew Chafin, Brenan Hanifee, Sean Guenther (on the injured list) and Matt Manning (like Jung, a former first-round pick), and hitters Akil Baddoo and Jahmai Jones, among others. That speaks to the much-improved depth for Detroit, especially in the farm system, which is the top-ranked in the sport, according to MLB Pipeline.
Jung still has prospect status, and is ranked No. 7 in the Tigers' system by MLB Pipeline. Right now, the Tigers have former All-Star Gleyber Torres at second base (on a one-year contract), and also have Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibáñez. At third, Vierling's still out, so the Tigers have used a rotation of Javier Báez, McKinstry and Ibáñez. The Tigers' brass prides itself in flexibility, so very little is set on stone, including Jung's time in Toledo.
But the Tigers' minor-leaguers also have adopted the motto: "Be where your feet are." In other words, be in the present, the future will take care of itself.
"If I would've hit, I would've made the team," said Jung, a left-handed swinger who has four doubles and a triple to go with his three home runs (no other Mud Hen has more than one homer). "You can look at it two ways: You would've loved to make the team, but at the end of the day, they didn't want you there. ... You learn from it, and you keep going.
"I'm in Triple A. So I'm going to enjoy Triple A, while I'm here."
It's not the assignment Jung wanted or envisioned, but it's one he'll continue to sink his teeth into.
Chattering, or otherwise.
Staff writer Chris McCosky contributed
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: In Toledo, Jace Jung is back swinging like he talks ― freely: 'Do what's best for you'
