Detroit Tigers: 5 prospects to watch during spring training

Justyn-Henry Malloy

From a prospect who's a virtual lock to one that's virtually blocked, Malloy seems like a longshot to make the team at the moment, and it's not because of his bat. That's good enough to get a shot at the big league level. The question lies with his glove.

He has not graded out well defensively at any position he's played. He was horrendous at third base, which is unfortunate because he could have been the answer at that position. In the outfield, he hasn't bee much better, though it sounds like that's where his future lies.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press talked about Malloy's defensive future in the "Days of Roar" podcast, and he said it's going to be in the outfield. That makes sense since there really isn't another place for him, other than maybe first base. He might just end up being a DH at the big league level.

Malloy is going to have to hit his way on to the roster. Either that, or somebody will have to get injured, though we certainly don't want that to happen. JHM has a big spring ahead of him.

Dillon Dingler

Dingler probably isn't the first one to come to mind when it comes to prospects to watch, but this is a huge spring for him. For many, like myself, he's already a non-prospect. He was drafted in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft and has stalled out in Double-A. This might be his last shot to prove himself to the organization.

Dingler is very athletic and plays solid defense behind the plate. He played the outfield during his freshman year at Ohio State. It's easy to see why the organization like him so much out of college.

Sadly, the bat just hasn't developed. He has a decent amount of power and will take his walks, but he just strikes out way too much. There's a ton of swing-and-miss in his game, and a lot of it comes on pitches in the strike zone as well.

Dingler was bumped up to Triple-A late last year as kind of a "hey, show me something" kind of move, and he didn't show much, hitting just .202 with a 56 wRC+ in 109 plate appearances. His chance to make this roster at any time, let alone this season, might be running out.

Even with a big spring, Dingler probably isn't going to make the team barring an injury to Jake Rogers or Carson Kelly. But a big spring could certainly change how the organization views him.

Jace Jung

Jung is the first prospect not on the 40-man roster that we're covering on this list, but it sure sounds like he won't be left off the roster very long. A.J. Hinch mentioned him by name as someone who could get some time at third base this season during his interview with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It likely won't happen early this season, but there's a good chance he debuts in 2024.

He'll likely get a lot of at-bats early on in the spring, like Parker Meadows and Andre Lipcius did last year. We could easily see fans clamor for him to make the roster like they did with those two a year ago.

Jung answered nearly every major question about his bat in the minors last season. The power really came on with 28 homers, and he was able to keep the plate discipline while being more aggressive. There's still come concerns about his overall contact ability, but the power has clearly clicked.

Defensively, his ability to play third is still a major question mark, especially considering he played second base exclusively up until the Arizona Fall League last year. Reports out of the AFL were mixed. He'll need some more reps over there for sure, and spring training is the perfect place for that to happen.

Jackson Jobe

Boy, are we excited to see Jackson Jobe pitch this spring. He probably won't pitch a ton, but hopefully he'll pitch in at least one of the games that broadcasted on TV.

Jobe broke out last year and showed why the Tigers chose him No. 3 overall in 2021. He just pounded the strike zone and simply didn't walk batters. He pitched 15.2 solid innings in the AFL, too. He's looking really, really good.

The one pure pitching issue we still see with him is the homers. Because he throws so many strikes, he has a tendecy to accidently leave one too far out over the plate, and it gets crushed. Thankfully, that's something that can be fixed with further refinement.

The other concern with him, as it is with any young arm, is health. Jobe missed roughly the first half of last season with a lumbar spine strain. Obviously that's not an arm injury, but it's injury nonetheless. Jobe's health will always be something to monitor.

For the most part, I've personally done a complete 180 on this pick. I wanted Marcelo Mayer at No. 3 in 2021. He seemed like so much more of a safe bet to be a great player that a high school pitcher. But last year, I finally saw it. I saw what the Tigers saw, and still see in him. This kid is gonna be good, folks. Can't wait to watch him pitch.