Jace Jung

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Jace Andrew Jung

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Jace Jung is the younger brother of Josh Jung. Like his brother, he attended Texas Tech University, where he played second base, and was a top draft pick, being chosen 12th overall in the 1st round of the 2022 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers. In his last two seasons in college, he hit .337 and .335 respectively, with 21 and 14 homers. Josh and Jace were the just the second and third first-rounders in school history (Josh was the #8 pick in the 2019 amateur draft), after Donald Harris in 1989.

He began his pro career with 30 with the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League in 2022, hitting .232 with 1 homer and 13 RBIs. He then broke out in 2023, starting off at West Michigan and ending up in AA with the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League. In 128 games, his slash line was .265/.376/.502 with 28 homers and 82 RBIs. He swept up a lot of postseason honors, including winning a Gold Glove for his defensive play at second base, being named a High-A All-Star by Baseball America, a Midwest League All-Star and a Tigers organizational All-Star. He then played in the Arizona Fall League and was named to play in the Rising Stars Game, that circuit's All-Star game. He was able to catch his brother Josh playing for the Texas Rangers in the 2023 World Series, including in the title-clinching game on November 1st, since it was played in Arizona, a short drive away from where the Rising Stars Game had been played that same day. He moved to third base for the Fall League, as the Tigers figured this would likely be his position in the majors.

He went to spring training with the Tigers as a non-roster invitee in 2024 and was one of the big stories in camp, as he continued to put his great hitting and fielding skills on display. On March 16th, he homered twice in a "Spring Breakout" game against the top prospects of the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit .257 in 91 games for the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League, with 14 homers and 60 RBIs before getting the call to Detroit. In his debut on August 16th, he went 0 for 2 with a pair of walks in a 3-0 loss to the New York Yankees; another top prospect and former first rounder, Trey Sweeney, also made his debut in that game. He got his first two big league hits the next day. He hit .241 in 34 games for the Tigers, who surged into an unlikely postseason slot, but without a homer and just 3 RBIs. His OPS+ was 94 and he saw some action in the Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians going 0 for 2 with 1 RBI in 2 games.

He started the 2025 season with Toledo, where he hit .239 in 19 games before getting the call to Detroit on April 21st. He struggled after the call-up, hitting just .100 in his first 40 at-bats, but these struggles were dampened by a couple of factors. The first was that the Tigers were playing excellent baseball and had the best record in the American League in early May, and the second was that his mother Mary had circled the week-end of May 11th on her calendar, knowing that the Texas Rangers, featuring Jace's brother Josh, would be visiting Comerica Park. She said that she did not want to make arrangements too long in advance, not knowing if her two sons would be present, but when it became clear that the family reunion would happen, she made it to Detroit, and was even asked to throw the ceremonial first pitch on Mother's Day. The two brothers enjoyed some old-fashioned brotherly rivalry, playing a game of tic-tac-toe on the infield dirt near third base between innings.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jason Beck: "It might not be Jung's time just yet ... but it's coming", mlb.com, March 1, 2024. [1]
  • Jason Beck: "'He's all-in': Tigers' Jung clubs 2 HRs at Spring Breakout", mlb.com, March 16, 2024. [2]
  • Jason Beck: "X's and bros: Jung brothers battle during in-game tic-tac-toe", mlb.com, May 10, 2025. [3]
  • Jesse Borek: "Jace Jung plays in Fall League, high-tails it to World Series for Josh", mlb.com, November 2, 2023. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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