Detroit Tigers reassign Jace Jung and nine other players to minor league camp

Jace Jung and Sean Guenther were optioned to Triple-A on Monday after eight players were moved to minor league camp on Saturday.

After another major round of cuts from Detroit Tigers major league camp were announced on Saturday, March 15, the Tigers also optioned infielder Jace Jung and left-handed reliever Sean Guenther to Triple-A Toledo, moving them over to minor league camp. With less than two weeks left until Opening Day on March 26, the starters are stretching out and the Tigers are trying to finalize their position player group and find some solutions for a few big problems. Playing time is now at a premium as the roster battles come into focus.

The big move here is obvious Jung. The Tigers pursued and didn’t land Alex Bregman this offseason, and the backup plan revolved around Jung taking over at third base, at least against right-handed pitchers. Now they need backup plans for their backup plan. Jung has looked serviceable defensively at the position, but at the plate has done little but slap ground balls and pop the ball up so far. He’s still drawing walks and not exactly striking out that much considering we’re looking at a pretty small sample of Grapefruit League games, but the Tigers have decided to send the 24-year-old back to Triple-A Toledo to start the year.

The backup plans here aren’t very compelling. The Tigers can play some combination of Javier Báez, Andy Ibáñez, Jahmai Jones, and Ryan Kreidler at third base, but those aren’t very good options overall, and leaves them without an option against right-handed pitching. One would assume that Zack McKinstry is going to get a lot of playing time at third base to start the year.

The move does perhaps open up more room to take Spencer Torkelson along on Opening Day, at least as a designated hitter. There’s talk of trying the wayward first baseman in left field, but that’s the kind of move that shouldn’t wait until the final nine days of camp. In small doses it may let them get Torkelson in as a pinch-hitter in certain situations, but just putting him out there with no real experience feels pretty desperate.

The third base position was an obvious weakness all offseason, and somehow the Tigers have come up empty in terms of good solutions. Hopefully Jung can get it going at the plate fairly quickly, as the list of problems with this position player group isn’t getting any better.

Left-hander Sean Guenther was also sent to minor league camp on Monday. The reliever will probably get a look sometime this season after a pretty good run late last year.

On Saturday, the Tigers moved outfielder Akil Baddoo, outfielder Bligh Madris, shortstop Andrew Navigato, and backup catcher Brian Serven over to minor league camp. Baddoo is still rehabbing a hamate fracture and probably won’t be back on the field until late April at the earliest, while Navigato made a nice little impression in camp and will now head back to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens infield to start the season. Serven and Madris remain depth options without too much chance of getting any playing time at the major league level right now.

In terms of pitchers, the Tigers reassigned right-handers Brendan White and Jordan Balazovic to minor league camp, along with left-handers Dietrich Enns and Matt Gage.

Of the group, White may have the best shot to work his way back to the major leagues after a year of arm trouble in 2024. Balazovic is a former Twins pitching prospect who pitched in the KBO in South Korea last summer. He has a pretty solid set of pitches but is still trying to put it together in the command department and learn to come out of the bullpen.

Enns also has a fairly deep set of pitches and is trying to convert to a full-time relief role in his early 30’s. He has a little major league experience but has spent the last few seasons pitching in Japan and then South Korea last year. The Tigers view him as a reliever who can pitch multiple innings, but he’s still clearly a depth option only. Gage has a pretty strong fastball and looks more like a possible lefty reliever, but he too is into his early 30’s and has never put it together in the command department.

All in all, no surprises here.

The cuts bring the bullpen group into focus. Tyler Holton, Jason Foley, Will Vest, Tommy Kahnle, John Brebbia, Beau Brieske, Kenta Maeda, Andrew Chafin, Brenan Hanifee, and Sean Guenther all remain in the mix. Lefty Brant Hurter looks bound for Toledo to keep starting and remain stretched out. Casey Mize, Jackson Jobe, and Keider Montero are still competing for the final two spots in the rotation, and it’s at least possible that the Tigers could move the odd man out there over into the bullpen for the early part of the season.

Major league camp is now down to 39 players.