Lakeland, Fla. – Jahmai Jones was holding court in front of his locker Sunday morning. He’s understandably fired up about playing for Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic next month.
“I think most people were confused,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know if they knew I was Korean or not.”
Jones’ mother is Korean and representing her native country in the WBC has long been on his bucket list.
“I couldn’t be more honored to be selected for that team,” he said. “It’s probably one of the single most important things I’ve done in baseball, truthfully. I love my mom to death. We’ve been through a lot as a family. Being able to do this for her and for myself, to be able to represent a country, it means everything to me.”
And that heartfelt sentiment is precisely why manager AJ Hinch would never stand in the way of one of his players leaving camp to participate on the world stage. Even if it’s a player like Jones, who despite a productive season last year, is still in camp fighting for a spot on the Tigers’ Opening Day roster.
“It’s very meaningful for them to represent their country and their heritage,” Hinch said. “I don’t feel good standing in the way regardless of their roster status or what their opportunity is here. Would I love to have him in camp? Of course.
“Am I going to punish him for doing something meaningful for him and his family? Absolutely not.”
Jones, who unseated Andy Ibanez and Justyn-Henry Malloy as the Tigers’ primary right-handed hitting bench threat last year, and infielder Hao-Yu Lee (Chinese Taipei), also a right-handed hitter, are both leaving for Japan at the end of the month. The Tigers have 13 players and eight coaches leaving camp for the WBC.
“I’m not necessarily rooting for them to get eliminated,” Hinch said with a wry smile. “But if they can come back quickly, that would be great.”
Jones, who started last season at Triple-A Toledo, ended up slashing .288/.393/.577 with seven home runs and a .970 OPS against left-handed pitching for the Tigers. Jones, 28, has been around long enough to know better than take anything for granted.
“It kind of feels the same as last year,” he said. “I’m still coming in to battle for X-Y-Z. The job stays the same. I still have to put together a good camp.”
The Tigers have brought in a couple of veteran right-handed hitting corner outfielders – Corey Julks and Austin Slater – as well as adding switch-hitting outfielder Trei Cruz to the 40-man roster.
“Obviously what I was able to do last year and help the team win, it was huge,” Jones said. “I learned a lot. I don’t feel as foreign in the locker room as I did coming in last year. I still feel the job is the same. I still have to go out and bust my tail and do what I need to do.
“But it definitely feels a lot better coming into a familiar environment.”
Playing for Team Korea has been on Jones’ mind since before 2023. But that year, Tommy John surgery kept him from pursuing a spot. He began planting the seeds for this WBC before last season.
“There was a lot of talk between my mom and I going into last year,” he said. “I let her know that’s what I was going to try to do. Outside of helping a Major League team win, one of my micro-goals was to try to get on a WBC roster with Team Korea.”
He put his agent on the case. Even the Tigers helped bring his candidacy to the Korean officials’ attention. Finally, Korean officials contacted Major League Baseball and Jones ended up first on the 35-player provisional roster and then the final roster.
“I don’t know if I understand the weight of it yet,” he said. “I probably won’t until I get there. But all of the emotions I had throughout the offseason, hearing it was a possibility, getting told I was one of the provisional 35 and then getting selected on MLB Network, my wife and I were going crazy. My parents FaceTimed while we watched. Just a really cool moment for me.”
He will fly to Japan with his mother and two sisters on Feb. 28. Team Korea will play a couple of exhibition games before opening pool play against the Czech Republic on March 5.
“There’s that last little bit of anticipation now,” he said. “You feel like a kid on Christmas morning. You haven’t opened all your presents yet and you look behind the tree and you’re like, ‘There’s one present left, wonder what it can be?’
“Getting to do this with my mom and family, it’s a really big moment for me.”
As Jones was talking, Lee walked into the clubhouse. Jones had been asked if there’d been any trash talk yet, despite the obvious language barrier between the two.
“If he wants to talk trash, he will talk trash very well,” Jones said.
And as if on cue, Lee chirped, in clear English, “(Bleep) Korea,” as he walked past the scrum. The room exploded in laughter.
“I’ll meet him in centerfield and give him a hug if we’re both playing,” Jones said. “But when the games start, I told him don’t expect any preferential treatment. I’m trying to stomp you.”
Let the games begin.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ Jahmai Jones bracing for WBC debut: ‘Couldn’t be more honored’
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
