Tigers Eat Their Jung

Jace Jung was called up yesterday. In Triple-A, he went 14 HRs, .257 with 2 steals. Every Tigers prospect of the last five years had the exact same line. No, not literally, but if you were to tell me 14 HRs, .257, and guess if it’s Torkelson, Carpenter, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Dillon Dingler, Colt Keith or Jung, I’d guess wrong five times before landing on Jace Jung. The Tigers have a type. That type is a Three True Outcome player. Hit a homer, take a walk or take a walk back to the dugout after a strikeout. Thank God for Parker Meadows, he at least adds speed. They saw their success with Riley Greene and were like, “Let’s not duplicate that.” By the way, for this opening, I went to their depth chart to get familiar with the Tigers and they have one starter — Skubal. That’s it. So, Itch’s said of Jung, “A left-handed hitter at 6’0” 205 lbs, Jung hit 28 homers in 128 games across two levels in 2023, slashing .265/.376/.502. He hit 14 home runs at each level but did so in just 47 games at Double-A. The 12th overall pick in 2022, he’ll be running right behind Colt Keith if Keith can’t figure out how to cook at second base. I’d like to cook Grey with fava beans.” What on earth. Jung is fine for a power play in 15-teamers if you got a man in the penalty box, but I’m waiting to see where they actually play him before grabbing. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Trey Sweeney – Also called up by the Tigers. Would’ve included him above, but I think Jung is a step above him, and I was making a thing about power-only guys and Sweeney has speed. Where does he play? I don’t know. Tigers be promoting guys without a real path. It’s not exactly, what do you call it, smart. Sweeney had a 13/16/.254 year in Triple-A with the Dodgers (he came over in the Flaherty trade), and a 26.8% K%. That’s a .210 hitter in the majors, but guys can get hot, and he has speed, so monocle the playing time.

Julio Rodriguez – Out after aggravating his previous ankle injury. Aggravating is the perfect word for JRod’s season.

Bryce Miller – 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.29. The M’s added Rice Bowl and J. Turner so can’t fault them too much, but the M’s hitting is so lifeless, they made Kenta Maeda (5 2/3 IP, 0 ER) appear in vintage form, and, let me be clear, Maeda has been basically the worst pitcher in baseball all year.

Andres Munoz – 1/3 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 1.35, as he allowed a home run to Javier Baez, who, without exaggeration, is as bad a hitter as Maeda is a pitcher, and it was Munoz’s first home run allowed since May 18th. None of this is fantasy relevant, because shizz happens and Munoz did a shizz, which happens.

Coby Mayo – Sent back to the minors. The Mayo has been put back in the little sauce packet. I repeat, the Mayo is back in the sauce packet.

Cedric Mullins – 1-for-2 and a slam (13) and legs (20). Hard to argue with a guy who has an outside chance for a 20/20 season, because you would be arguing with a computer screen, but Mullins is around the 80th best outfielder in fantasy on the Player Rater, and that’s not very good.

Zach Eflin – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.72. Thought we were getting an Eflin gem yesterday, but ended up being a “head nod, quietly to self, ‘I like that'”-type of start.

Gunnar Henderson – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 31st homer, and 2nd homer in two games. Wonder if Gunnar tried to get through to Mayo before he was sent down. “Listen, Mayo,” placing hand on shoulder, “BLT needs you, and I’m abbreviating Baltimore and not making fun of your name.”

Wilyer Abreu – 2-for-3 and his 14th homer, 2nd homer in as many games. He should be in this afternoon’s Buy column. Is he? Ummm…Hot Schmotato! (That’s how I remind myself.)

Nick Pivetta – 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.49. A gutsy start from Pivetta in Baltimore. [takes finger and runs it down league standings to see if I have a category for ‘gutsy’]

Rich Hill – Signing with the Red Sox. Put Dick Mountain next to Jarren Duran in the clubhouse and get your popcorn ready for the Netflix doc about the Sawx.

Byron Buxton – Hit the IL, breaking his chase of Ripken’s record.

Bailey Ober – 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.49. Ya know what he’s doing, right? Ya know, right? He’s putting together a sub-3 ERA 2nd half so we are insane for him all offseason, and then he has a 7+ ERA next April. That’s what this is. I’ve fallen for this tailpipe banana before.

Willi Castro – 1-for-4 and his 10th homer. Have him for steals, and thank you for another homer I don’t need. Lowercase yay.

Cody Bradford – 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.50. I’m intrigued by Cody, but also the Streamonator likes his next one, so I’m ready to get hurt.

Christian Yelich – Will have season-ending back surgery. He’s supposed to be back to start next year, and I’d put his over/under on games played in any season after this at 80. It sucks; nothing more to say. The Yelich we once knew is nevermore. Is that poetry? Guess if it was, I’d know it being a poet and all.

Tobias Myers – 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 2.81. Not saying this was a great start, but it was vs. the Dodgers and Freddy Peralta gets housed by the Marlins!

William Contreras – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 16th homer, 3rd homer in four games. Contreras remains number one on the Player Rater for catcher, and seems locked into that spot for the 2nd straight year. Oh, Adley Rutschman is now down to 4th, behind Cal Raleigh, which is different than Cal Raleigh’s behind, but equally as big for fantasy.

Jackson Chourio – 2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 15th homer. He hasn’t hit below .315 for three months. We’re talking about a 20-year-old with 30/30 potential. Whatever is too early next year to draft him, count me for one draft spot in front of that.

Daniel Hudson – 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 2.54, as he entered the 8th. This blow up gave the win to Bryan Hudson. Nepo baby!

Nick Castellanos – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 16th homer. The Greek God of Hard Contact has had one of the most boring years–[remembers JRod] Forget it.

Alec Bohm – 1-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 13th homer. On his player page it says he played from May 1st until now. How do we confirm that if he hadn’t done anything since then? Is there any easy way? Is that what replay review is for?

Zack Wheeler – 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.72. Legit too lazy to make this argument, but will try! He’s allowed 21 ER in three games. Only 45 ER in all games. So, 21 ER in 13 1/3 IP, and 24 ER in 135 1/3 IP (1.60 ERA). That has to be some kind of record. What kind of record? I don’t know exactly. But some kind!

Weston Wilson – 4-for-5, 3 runs and his 3rd homer as he hit for the cycle. Shhh…listen very closely and we can hear the one Weston Wilson fantasy owner in all of the country. Hear him? He’s woo-hoo’ing. It’s very faint.

Keibert Ruiz – 2-for-4 and his 10th and 11th homer, hitting .227. Hey, that’s Marla Gibbs’s house!

Mitchell Parker – 3 IP, 9 ER, ERA at 4.44. Mitch got pitch-slapped. No he didn’t. Member that glossary term? It’s like when you go to the dictionary and you see “arcane, no longer used.” It was when a pitcher gave up a homer to another pitcher. They don’t hit anymore. Though, I guess Ohtani is pitch slapping everyone.

Logan Webb – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.17. Yesterday, we learned Pepiot was bitten by a spider and today it’s Webb’s day to shine. Also, Mitchell Peter Parker pitches? Where’s A. Molina on the Jays, dressed as Doc Ock? Chad Green Goblin? [doorbell rings] Hello? A cease and desist from Marvel? Oh. Okay.

Tyler Fitzgerald – 1-for-4, 1 RBI and his 13th and 14th steals. Fitz is gonna go 20/20 in three months. The ol’ 40/40 pace. [taking 17 years and building a new Taj Mahal, but for Fitzgerald only this Taj is cinderblocks spelling the words “I Love You”]

Grant McCray – 2-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. Fun fact! Fitzgerald/McCray is Major Dad.

Casey Schmitt – 3-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 5th homer. Wasn’t that long ago he was considered an exciting prospect. To use poker terminology, he was the nut flush. Wait, I might be thinking of something else with Casey.

Max Fried – 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.62. I have no doubt that the Braves know Fried is not right, and he knows he’s not right, but they gave him the option to shut it down and have surgery or shut it down and return at 75%, and who wants to shut it down? I think this is what happens when the doctor says something like, “You will not cause further damage if you rest and throw again in a few weeks or months. Feel free to grab a lollipop on the way out.”

Jose Quintana – 4 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.26. Streamonator doesn’t like his next one, and I don’t either after yesterday’s start.

Mark Vientos – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs with his 18th and 19th homer. I’m obsessed with how good he’s been and no one is talking about it. What’s that, do I actively read anyone else’s work to see if they’re talking about Mark Vientos? Well, no, I try to avoid others’ work to not get influenced. With that said, no one is talking about this guy! He has 18 HRs in 73 games. Conservatively, that pace is 35 HRs and .270. At 3rd base. Where are we thinking next year? Because wherever he’s drafted it’s likely too late. Him or Austin Riley? Clearly Austin Riley right? On the Player Rater, Vientos is 10th best for $/Game; Riley is 22nd. Top 3B by $/Game of guys who have significant enough at-bats: Jose Ramirez, Royce Lewis, Elly, Gunnar, Devers, Rengifo, then Vientos. Some big names he’s better than: Jazz, Machado, Bohm, aforementioned Riley and Bregman. It’s time we put some respect on Vientos’s name. Vientos: The Freshmaker.

JJ Bleday – 3-for-5,2 runs, 4 RBIs and a slam (15) and legs (1), and 2nd homer in a week. Won’t be in this afternoon’s Buy column, but might be schmotato.

Mitch Spence – 2 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.64. It’s interesting how there’s so many Tanners in the majors now, when that name didn’t appear in any baseball database until five years ago. 25 years ago, people were all about naming their kids Tanner, because their parents were into Full House, clearly. What I can’t understand is why there’s so many Mitches who were born roughly 25 years ago. Was it the radio edit of Dr. Dre songs?