Jace

Jung

McGonigle’s ability to generate consistent hard contact in tandem with elite contact skills at such a young age makes it strangely difficult to imagine a future where he isn’t an impactful fantasy contributor. That future might become reality in a few weeks on Opening Day. The 21-year-old prodigy’s path to a spot on Detroit’s season-opening roster got easier with Trey Sweeney sidelined with a shoulder injury and leaves super utility specialist Zach McKinstry as the lone obstacle in his way. A strong performance in Grapefruit League exhibition contests would make it extremely challenging for the Tigers to ship him back to the minors. He’ll be a popular sleeper candidate in all fantasy drafts this spring, especially if he starts making some noise at the dish. Here is the full lineup: Jahmai Jones (RF), McGonigle (SS), Gleyber Torres (2B), Colt Keith (3B), Jake Rogers (DH), Jace Jung (1B), Trei Cruz (CF), Eduardo Valencia (C) and Corey Julks (LF).

Jung was only with the Tigers for five days in his latest stint with the club. The 24-year-old will head to Triple-A to finish 2025 with Justyn-Henry Malloy taking his roster spot. Jung may need to change organizations to get a chance at a full-time gig in 2026.

With Colt Keith (ribs) landing on the injured list, Jung will get another opportunity to show what he can do at the big league level. Jung has hit just .111/.245/.111 with zero homers and three RBI in 53 plate appearances with the Tigers this season.

The 24-year-old Jung, who got into 18 games for the Tigers in April and May, is 11-for-28 with two homers this month, and he’s hitting .289/.372/.489 in his last 47 games for Toledo. It’s probably not going to get him a late callup, but the surge won’t hurt his positioning going into 2026.

Jung just didn’t have it in his limited time with Detroit, as the 24-year-old went just 5-for-45 before the Tigers had seen enough. With the infielder now in Toledo, Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibanez will likely split time at the hot corner. Neither is worthy of a fantasy addition.

Sending down Jung when Matt Vierling is activated seems like the obvious call for the Tigers, but at least his exit velocity and strikeout numbers are both better this time around than in his initial audition with the Tigers last year. His defense at third seems improved, too. It’s possible he’ll be a decent regular come 2026.

Jung delivered a two-out RBI single off of Dean Kremer in the sixth inning that extended the Tigers’ lead to 4-0 and chased the O’s right-hander from the game. He then raced around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Dillon Dingler. He’s hitting .143/.333/.143 with two RBI and a 5/4 K/BB ratio through his first 18 plate appearances with the Tigers this season.

This is kind of odd timing, particularly since he was bypassed when Gleyber Torres got hurt. Jung, currently in a 3-for-27 slump after a hot start, was hitting .239/.409/.463 with three homers in 88 plate appearances for Toledo. He’s started 10 games at third and seven at second this season. We imagine he’ll get a look at third against right-handers over Javier Báez. If he excels, he could hold down the job the rest of the way. If not, he could return to the minors when Matt Vierling comes off the IL.

It’s unclear if the Tigers are looking to make a change or if they’re weighing putting someone (Kerry Carpenter?) on the IL. Jung has hit .239/.409/.463 for Triple-A Toledo. He stared off considerably better than that, but he’s in a 3-for-27 slump.

Jung’s triple hit the top of the wall at 374 feet before he later crushed a 415-foot no-doubter. Jung was not able to win the 3B spot out of spring training, but he has a 1.478 OPS through 15 Triple-A at-bats and could push for another shot with the Tigers if he keeps swinging the bat well over the next couple of weeks.