New Detroit Tigers Top Prospect Achieves Major MLB Milestone vs. Cubs
For the Detroit Tigers, the final six weeks of the season is about finding out how some of their top young players fit into the picture for next season.
Two of them were called up last week — infielders Trey Sweeney and Jace Jung.
On Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs, Sweeney went to the plate in the second inning with a runner on first base, which just happened to be Jung. The Tigers’ No. 5 prospect and first-round pick in 2022 led off the inning with a walk.
That gave Sweeney a chance to reach one of those milestone that young players dream about — his first big league home run.
He connected on a pitch from Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon and slammed it to straightaway center field in Wrigley Field, one of the game’s iconic parks.
Basket-ball!
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 22, 2024
Trey Sweeney swats his first big league home run. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Pvj77JTQYD
He wasn’t the only Tigers player to hit a home run on Wednesday. Riley Greene, just a few days removed from the 10-day injured list, hit one, as did Kerry Carpenter.
But Sweeney's put Detroit in control of a game they won, 8-2.
The 24-year-old is new to the Tigers’ organization. He was part of the return in Detroit’s trade that sent pitcher Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sweeney was immediately installed as the Tigers’ No. 20 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.
He’s only had 11 at-bats since his call-up last Friday and is batting .182 with two hits. Jung is batting .250 but has yet to hit his first home run.
Detroit has committed to start Sweeney at shortstop and Jung at third base the rest of the season, an opportunity for both to build a case to be the Opening-Day starter at each position in 2025.
Sweeney only received one Division I offer to play baseball coming out of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Ky. At Eastern Illinois he played three seasons and in 2021 he was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after he hit .382 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI. He was also a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation’s best shortstop.
The New York Yankees selected him No. 21 overall in the 2021 MLB draft and made it all the way to Double-A Somerset before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in late 2023 for Victor González and Jorbit Vivas.
The Dodgers sent him to Triple-A Oklahoma City before he was traded to the Tigers and spent two weeks with Triple-A Toledo, where he batted .381/.447/.667 with two home runs, nine RBI and four stolen bases.
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