Get too focused on Colt Keith or Parker Meadows or some other Tigers farmhand making noise in 2023 and you can miss another dude who’s driving the ball.
Jace Jung, now deployed at Double-A Erie.
Jung is a couple of weeks into his apprenticeship with the SeaWolves and all has gone about as smoothly as these high-Single A to Double A transitions allow.
He had a two-homer game, and three bombs overall in his first 12 contests with Erie. It showed he was cozying up to Double-A pitching in a manner expected from last year’s Tigers first-round pick.
Jung owns a .227 batting average and .765 OPS after 12 games at Erie.
It was the OPS (.432 slugging percentage) that hinted at muscle Jung earlier had shown at West Michigan (.842 OPS, 14 homers) ahead of last month’s promotion.
“He’s going to hit, and he’s going to hit for power,” said Gabe Alvarez, Erie’s manager, who has been using Jung exclusively at Jung’s single position, second base. “I’ve been really impressed with him.”
Jung bats left-handed. And not conventionally. He hits from a slightly open stance, with hands high, and bat pointing at a tall angle. It puts him on a personal path to pitches Jung tends to drive.
“He has that unorthodox swing, but once he starts the swing, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Alvarez said. “He makes it work, with incredible bat-speed.
“When he gets to the big leagues, it’s going to be a batting stance kids will mimic — the way I did with Mickey Tettleton or Will Clark.”
That leaves defense as a conversation piece.
Alvarez is happy you asked.
“He understands positioning,” said Alvarez, who played mostly third base for the Tigers and San Diego Padres during his 92-game big-league career. “He understands guys’ swings. He’s caught every ball and made every throw.
“The one thing he really excels at is turning a double play — the pivot, the follow-through. And he does it mainly because of his arm strength. I know this is just my personal view, but I think he has the arm to play third base, if we ever needed that.”
In his 123 farm games since the Tigers grabbed Jung, fresh from Texas Tech, he has a .372 on-base average and decent overall walk rate that also comes with a 23% strikeout pace.
Jung, in fact, had whiffed 16 times in his first 12 games at Erie.
“We’ve had a stretch where we’ve been facing a lot of left-handed arms,” Alvarez said. “He’s handling them just fine. The strikeouts are fine. It’s not something that’s concerning.”
Keith keeping things crisp
He will be one to watch six months from now when spring camp convenes at Lakeland, Florida.
There won’t be any plans for Keith to break camp and snag an Opening Day job at third base, or second base, either of which the Tigers see him playing whenever he makes it to Detroit.
But figure on a 2024 debut for a slashing left-handed hitter who next week turns 22. Grapefruit League games could be something of a dress rehearsal for Keith.
“You don’t really see him overmatched by anyone,” said Triple-A Toledo manager Anthony Iapoce, talking about Keith’s work since he was brought aboard six weeks ago from Double A Erie.
“And you do not want to miss one of his at-bats. We watch him from that open angle (coaching third base) and you see him on a lot of pitches, how he uses the whole field, jams a pitch for a single, how he competes with two strikes, how he hits with men on base.”
Keith was batting .273/.349/.436/.785 after Sunday’s game at Iowa. He later blasted a double off the fence at Principal Park. He has 17 home runs, combined, in 2023 at Erie and Toledo.
Position, of course, is where questions arise. The Tigers would love Keith (6-2, 211) to make third base his MLB home. They have fewer options at third and ideally want a hitter of Keith’s clout to settle in at a spot that’s forever a community project in Detroit.
Keith, for his part, says he’s “obsessed” with becoming The Man there. But note that Keith is being used almost evenly as an option at second, thanks, in part, to Justyn-Henry Malloy and Tyler Nevin being on hand.
This remains very much a trial situation. Iapoce, so far, is content with what Keith’s showing anywhere in the infield.
“He’s been making all the plays,” Iapoce said. “He’s got a good clock — knowing when to get rid of the ball and who’s running. He handles everything, and does a good job with the backhand for such a young guy.”
Malloy moving masterfully
Another guy who factors in that Tigers organizational mix — at least officially — at third base is the right-handed hitting Malloy.
Malloy, though, is working plenty in left field, and even in right. What matters most is keeping him in the thick of Toledo’s order. Malloy was batting .286/.415/.476/.891, with 17 homers, through Sunday.
“Everybody’s got to be able to move around to get in the lineup,” Iapoce said, acknowledging Tigers manager AJ Hinch has a near-insistence on position players being flexible.
“Justyn has been pretty good at both the corners. He was a bit more comfortable in left, but he’s getting some reps in right field.
“He’s got a plus arm. Very accurate with his throws. And he can move around — he’s made a bunch of diving catches.”
Short hops
Iapoce on right-handed starter Jack O’Loughlin, who last week tossed five innings of one-hit ball for the Mud Hens, striking out eight and walking three:
“You know exactly what you’re getting,” Iapoce said of an Australia native, 6-5, 223 pounds. “He’s competing every pitch. He’s got a fastball at the top of the zone. He can spin a breaking ball. He can run pitches in on right-handed hitters and jam guys.
“One thing I’ve noticed about coaching Australians is they’re really big on the team thing. He’s not too concerned about his mechanics. For such a young guy at this level, he’s focused on the next pitch.”
… The Tigers do not discuss injuries apart from official injury reports — an update will arrive later this week — but a couple of key players at Erie are expected to be gone, perhaps for the season.
Andrew Navigato, who was having a splendid season for the SeaWolves, seriously hurt his shoulder July 25 during an infield collision with an Akron baserunner and is recovering in Lakeland, Florida.
Erie starting pitcher Wilmer Flores also is gone, with an apparent hamstring issue, and is not expected back soon.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and retired Detroit News sports reporter.