After the Rangers selected Texas Tech third baseman Josh Jung eighth overall in 2019, the Red Raiders replaced him at the hot corner with his younger brother. Jace shifted to second base in 2021 and won Big 12 Conference player of the year honors, just as Josh had two years earlier, and he's primed to go in a similar area in the 2022 Draft. Jace has more power but Josh was a more well-rounded player at the same stage of their careers.
Jung's upright setup at the plate is unorthodox but doesn't prevent him from destroying all types of pitches and pitchers. The left-handed hitter has no discernible weakness at the plate, drawing more walks than strikeouts in each of his first two college seasons while making repeated hard contact to all fields. His hitting ability, strength and bat speed produce home runs from foul pole to foul pole and he makes two-strike adjustments without sacrificing much power.
Most of Jung's value will come from his bat, which is fine because he may hit .300 with 30 homers on an annual basis. His aggressive nature helps him play better than his below-average speed on the bases but his defensive home remains in question. He has fringy arm strength, was erratic at third base and may not be more than adequate at second base.
Jung was named 2021 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year at Texas Tech -- two years after brother Josh won the same award -- by hitting .337/.462/.697 with 21 homers in 56 games and nearly as good a year for the Red Raiders a year later. That propelled him to become the 12th overall pick in the 2022 Draft. He met expectations in his first full Minor League season by leading the Detroit system with 28 homers while finishing with a .265/.376/.502 line over 128 games between High-A and Double-A. He got some extra time in the Arizona Fall League, where the bigger priority was seeing action at third base.
The left-handed slugger is notable for his unorthodox plate stance, in which he holds his hands fairly high and points the bat at a backward angle. He has little issue staying in rhythm, though, and comes around so quickly on pitches that he pulled 53 percent of his batted balls in 2023, the highest rate among Tigers full-season qualifiers. His swing is also geared toward lift, and he has repeatedly shown the strength to project as one of the best power-hitting second basemen in the game.
That’s if he sticks at second base. Jung was a surprise Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove winner given his pre-Draft reputation, but he impressed Tigers officials and Minor League managers with his ability to handle what’s hit to him with his good hands. However, his lack of range limits his defensive ceiling up the middle, and his trial at third coincided with Colt Keith getting looks at the keystone. Jung’s offensive ability is too good to ignore, and should he keep hitting the right benchmarks, he'll remain valuable in the lineup regardless of his defensive spot.
A dominant Jung was a familiar sight on the Texas Tech infield over the last half-decade. Two years after Josh won 2019 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year honors and went in the first round of the Draft, Jace won the same award by hitting .337/.462/.697 with 21 homers in 56 games. Jace had to wait another year -- one in which he again produced a 1.093 OPS and boasted a 42/59 K/BB ratio -- to go in the first round himself; in his case, it was 12th overall to the Tigers. The younger brother was pushed to High-A West Michigan but may have run out of gas a bit with the additional 30 games.
Starting from an upright left-handed stance, Jung holds his hands with his bat at an unorthodox backward angle, yet he doesn’t have much issue staying on time with his movements. His knowledge of the strike zone helps drive his plate discipline and healthy walk rates -- even at High-A, he had a .373 OBP -- and he has the strength and bat speed to show near-plus power to all fields, as he did throughout his college career.
A below-average runner, Jung can provide value on the basepaths with his aggressiveness on balls in play, but he won’t be much of a stolen-base threat. His lack of range and arm keep him limited to second base after dalliances at third and short in college, and while his hands work for the position, he’s still going to need to hit for both average and power to bring impact as an everyday player. Luckily, he has a long resume of doing just that.
After the Rangers selected Texas Tech third baseman Josh Jung eighth overall in 2019, the Red Raiders replaced him at the hot corner with his younger brother. Jace shifted to second base in 2021 and won Big 12 Conference player of the year honors, just as Josh had two years earlier. Jace has more power but Josh was a more well-rounded player at the same stage of their careers. Jace went to the Tigers with the 12th overall pick in July, signing for full slot at $4,590,300.
Jung's upright setup at the plate is unorthodox but doesn't prevent him from destroying all types of pitches and pitchers. The left-handed hitter has no discernible weakness at the plate, drawing more walks than strikeouts in each of his first two college seasons while making repeated hard contact to all fields. His hitting ability, strength and bat speed produce home runs from foul pole to foul pole, and he makes two-strike adjustments without sacrificing much power.
Most of Jung's value will come from his bat. That's fine, because he may hit .300 with 30 homers on an annual basis. His aggressive nature helps him play better than his below-average speed on the bases, but his defensive home remains in question. He has fringy arm strength, was erratic at third base and may not be more than adequate at second base.
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
Player
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
Note: xHR tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about how positioning is defined here