Detroit Tigers: 5 prospects to watch during spring training

Spring training has begun. Pretty soon, baseball will once again grace our televisions. We can't wait for Detroit Tigers baseball. But for now, we have to figure out what this team will look like.

Yesterday we did our first Opening Day roster projection. Now, it's time to look at some prospects to watch during camp this year.

This list will contain prospects on the 40-man roster, as well as prospects invited as non-roster invitees. The Tigers invited many of their top prospects to camp this year, and it will be exciting to see if any of them have a monster spring.

So without further ado, here's five Tigers prospects to watch this spring.

Colt Keith

Obviously, all eyes will be on Keith this spring. He's basically already been penciled in as the Opening Day second baseman by many, but Scott Harris has said that he still have to earn his spot on the roster.

The only way Keith shouldn't make the team is if he gets hurt. He could have a disaster of a spring where he just looks lost at the plate, but that doesn't seem likely given how good he's looked and how much he prepares.

The biggest thing to watch with him will be his defense. How will look he look at second base? Will he get some time at third? He almost certainly will, but how much time will he get? These are all questions that will need to be answered.

This is Colt Keith's audition. Barring somethimg unforseen, he should ace it.

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.

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.