Detroit Tigers: What to Expect From Jackson Jobe

Jackson Jobe has been promoted to the Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are promoting Jackson Jobe to the big leagues. It’s a move that would have seemed stunning just a few weeks ago. But much of what the Detroit Tigers have been doing lately would have seemed stunning a few weeks ago.

Jackson Jobe is our number one Detroit Tigers prospect. And he currently ranks as the top overall pitching prospect in baseball to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America ($). This is a pretty big deal.

And it’s something Tigers fans have been asking about (and asking for) since early in the season. Our response was typically that Jobe still had some things to improve. Or that it didn’t make much sense given where the Tigers were in the standings.

Funny thing about that.

The Detroit Tigers now own the third AL Wild Card slot, with six games to play. Calling up a young, hard-throwing starter to work relief innings is exactly the sort of thing a playoff contender should do. So the Tigers did it.

Jobe is joining the hunt.

The Tigers will select the contract of RHP Jackson Jobe to the Major League roster prior to the upcoming series against Tampa Bay. pic.twitter.com/REDkpIYIV7

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 23, 2024

So, let’s learn a little about Jackson Jobe before he makes his MLB debut.

Jackson Jobe’s Background

Jackson Jobe is no stranger to high-level athletics. His father, Brandt, is a professional golfer who has won several tournaments in his career. And Jackson was a multi-sport athlete at Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He played quarterback and led the football team to a state title in 2018.

On the diamond Jobe was a shortstop and pitcher who would occasionally take the mound as a reliever in national showcase events. That’s what happened at the 2020 Perfect Game National Showcase. Jobe touched 96 MPH with his fastball and showed a devastating slider with eye-popping spin rates, and it immediately became apparent his future was on the mound.

Jobe’s stock rose steadily over the next year, with more impressive outings in national showcases, and spectacular results for Heritage Hall. The Detroit Tigers then bucked recent trends against high-school arms and selected Jobe third overall in the 2021 MLB Draft. He was just the 8th prep pitcher drafted in the top three since 2000.

He didn’t make his pro debut until 2022, and his early results weren’t terribly encouraging. Jobe showed flashes of his elite stuff, but he also proved surprisingly hittable in Low-A Lakeland, where he pitched to a 4.52 ERA and allowed 12 home runs in just 61.2 innings. He did improve over the course of the year, though. He was rewarded with three late-season starts in High-A West Michigan, where he allowed just two earned runs in 15.2 innings.

Jackson Jobe was still on the prospect radar after his bumpy pro debut. But he tended to slot in toward the back end of top-100 lists. He was 63rd to MLB, 83rd to Baseball America, and 91st to Baseball Prospectus prior to the 2023 season.

Then came potentially devastating news: Jobe would miss 3-6 months with a back injury. Fans weren’t very happy, and there was some concern he might miss the whole season.

But Jackson Jobe returned to the mound in June, and he was spectacular. He still had his slider, but he also improved the shape of his fastball, showed more confidence in his changeup, and added a cutter to his arsenal. He posted a 2.81 ERA with 84 strikeouts and just six walks over 64 innings, reaching Double-A Erie in his final start of the regular season. Jobe then added four more impressive outings in the Arizona Fall League.

Back in Erie to begin 2024, Jobe got off to a bit of a slow start. He walked more batters in his first two outings (seven) than he did in all of 2023. But he righted the ship and was in the middle of ten consecutive hitless innings when injury struck again.

Jackson Jobe appears to tweak something in his left leg and he leaves the game. Was excellent again today, with 3 scoreless, hitless innings allowing just 1 walk and striking out 5. pic.twitter.com/GHqzfL10F3

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 1, 2024

Jobe missed nearly seven weeks with his hamstring injury, but he came back healthy and effective in three rehab outings with the West Michigan Whitecaps. Then it was back to Double-A for 11 starts, where walks were once again a bit of an issue. But Eastern League hitters showed little success when they actually swung the bat, hitting just .162 against Jobe.

Triple-A hitters were much more successful, collecting 12 hits against Jobe in his two starts with the Mud Hens to end the season. He allowed six earned runs in nine innings, walking five and striking out seven with Toledo. You can see his entire second outing below:

Jackson Jobe Scouting Report

As always, we encourage you to check out our full scouting report on Jackson Jobe. But here’s the quick and dirty version.

Jobe comes at hitters with a true four-pitch mix. His once-pedestrian fastball now boasts terrific shape to go along with plus velocity and spin. His sweeping slider moves so much at times it feels like it’s darting across time zones. The mid-80s changeup looks like his fastball until it falls off the table. And his short cutter ties up the whole package rather nicely.

He’s an athletic mover on the mound with an extremely quick arm. He fields his position well, and he has a quick pickoff move that helps keep runners honest. Jobe has shown flashes of plus command in the past, but he sprayed the ball a fair amount in 2024. He doesn’t usually miss the zone by much, however, and in time he should grow into an above-average strike thrower at the MLB level.

Jobe is just a month past his 22nd birthday, and there’s still plenty of work to be done here. But he’s one of the very few pitching prospects in baseball with a legitimate chance to develop into a real ace.

The Trouble With Jackson Jobe

When a pitcher has this much raw talent it can feel a bit like nitpicking to point out flaws. But Jobe is far from a finished product. For as electric as his raw stuff can appear at times, Jobe has never really been a huge swing-and-miss pitcher.

He generates well below-average extension, and upper-level hitters don’t appear to have a terribly hard time identifying his pitches. They don’t hit him particularly hard, either, but batters often foul off multiple pitches and work deep counts against Jobe. The end result is more walks, and shorter outings.

There’s also a bit of overall immaturity and impatience to his game. Not necessarily in terms of his demeanor, though Jobe can get visibly frustrated on the mound at times. We’re talking more about his focus and execution.

Jobe too often gives in to hitters and throws a pitch right over the heart of the plate. Sometimes it happens because he has narrowly missed the zone a few times and needs to throw a strike. But other times he gets ahead in the count and lays a pitch over the middle because he appears to think the battle is already won. These are all issues of inexperience that should get ironed out as more advanced hitters make him pay for mistakes.

The Verdict

Jackson Jobe is a tremendously talented pitcher, and Detroit Tigers fans are right to be excited about him joining the team. He IS just a rookie, however, and fans should be prepared for him to take some lumps against the best hitters on the planet. That said, it appears the Tigers are simply going to use him as a big arm out of the bullpen for now. We’ve seen that before, and it was an awful lot of fun…

Jackson Jobe works a perfect 9th inning and looks absolutely terrifying in the process. pic.twitter.com/5gNwSEhcuU

— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrown0914) March 12, 2024

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