3 more prospects Tigers fans would love to see debut by end of season

Tigers rookies have been a huge part of Detroit's 2024 season. Colt Keith, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Wenceel Pérez have all stepped up in big ways for the team this season, and the latter two have made great arguments for themselves as everyday staples starting on Opening Day next year.

The Tigers also aren't looking like they're going to be very active on the free agent market in the offseason, to no one's surprise, so they're going to have to take a deeper look into the farm system to figure out how they're going to fortify the roster in 2025. That probably means even more MLB debuts.

However, why should we wait until 2025 to see a few more top prospects get to the majors? Detroit has basically called it quits on the season, so they might as well have a little fun with it, right?

3 more prospects Tigers fans would love to see debut by end of season

Jackson Jobe

This one probably isn't going to happen, but we can dream, right? After the Tigers traded Jack Flaherty, it left them with only two healthy starters, leading to some questions about whether or not they would speed up Jobe's ascent through the minors to try to get him in Detroit as soon as possible. They quickly shot that idea down, which makes some sense given that they seemed adamant about their intention to get Jobe to 100 innings in Double-A earlier this season and he's only at 42 1/3 so far.

His most recent start on Aug. 1 was arguably the worst of his season to date; he pitched four innings and gave up three runs on five hits and five walks. His walk rate has been notably higher over his last two starts, but none of this should be read as a sign that we need to be worried about him. Unfortunately, it might confirm that those extra innings in the minors are necessary for a little more fine-tuning.

Jobe was unfortunately sidelined for two months with a hamstring strain despite only going onto the 7-day IL initially. If he had pitched through those two months, he'd be a lot closer to that 100-inning mark than he is now and maybe could've had the Tigers reconsidering an early promotion, but for now it looks like we'll have to wait a little while longer on this one.

Jace Jung

Jung seems like the most likely candidate of any on this list to attain his MLB debut this season. He was with the big club at Tigers spring training this year, but AJ Hinch made it very clear that neither he nor Jobe would crack the Opening Day roster, and that they were just there to learn. Still, Jung batted very well over 18 games, with a .318 average and .884 OPS, and that had some fans begging Hinch to change his mind.

Jung now has over 80 games in Triple-A under his belt and seems to be itching for a call up. He missed a couple of weeks too, from the end of June through the first week of July, and slumped a bit when he returned, but he's made good on his promise to start August, notching a .294 average. He's also walking a lot more than anyone expected him to; FanGraphs predicted he'd walk at a 10.6% clip when, in reality, he's been doing it in 15.7% of his plate appearances.

He's primarily been playing third base with the Mud Hens, while the Tigers have mostly been rotating Gio Urshela, Matt Vierling, and Zach McKinstry through that position through the season. Jung might have to wait until Urshela leaves (subscription required) in the offseason to get his shot at the majors, but he's certainly made an argument for himself as an easy call if the veteran gets hurt again this year,

Trey Sweeney

Sweeney is one of the Tigers' newest prospects, acquired from the Dodgers along with Thayron Liranzo in the Jack Flaherty trade. Sweeney slotted in at No. 24 in the Tigers' pipeline and went straight to Triple-A, where he's looked like a monster at the plate in his last three games. 14 at-bats certainly isn't quite enough to go off of, but he's already collected 15 total bases, two homers, and six RBI in his first three games in the system.

Sweeney's a shortstop, which immediately makes him an interesting get for the Tigers. Javy Báez has three more years (and $73 million) left on his contract, and while the Tigers have remained frustratingly loyal to him despite the fact that he's simply terrible at his job, why would they go out and get a Triple-A shortstop who could be ready for a call up at any time if they weren't looking into the near future?

In an ideal world, the Tigers would dump Báez and acquire a better shortstop, but because they don't like to spend money and Báez is kind of the perfect justification for that stinginess, an internal option seems like a more likely replacement if they ever decide to eat his contract. While it seems improbable that they'll do that this season, if ever ... we can dream, can't we? Sweeney seems like the perfect cost-effective, power-hitting shortstop the Tigers have needed for years.