The Detroit Tigers are making the move to promote starting pitcher Jackson Jobe, moving him up a level. The third overall pick from the 2021 MLB First-Year Amateur Draft earned himself a promotion. He started the 2022 season with the Lakeland Flying Tigers and is now making a move upwards.
He will jump up a level and be heading to Michigan to join the Detroit Tigers High-A affiliate. He will join the West Michigan Whitecaps. Jobe is already slated to make his debut with the team, set to be the team’s starter on Wednesday. A new chance for Jobe to start moving towards the big leagues.
This will be a good test for Jobe to see how he handles the jump. He’s just 20 years old and has room to keep growing and get better over time. The Tigers view him as a future ace or at minimum a front of the rotation arm. There’s a lot to like about the right-hander, and this end-of-the-season promotion is going to be a quality opportunity for him.
The Tigers’ scouting department feels that Jobe is ready to make the jump. With the season starting to near the end, Jobe will get the opportunity to make a few starts and hopefully keep showing progression. Especially if the Tigers want to see him emerge as an ace down the line.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jackson Jobe’s promotion is a test.
While with the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, he made 18 starts while managing a 4.52 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP while tallying 61.2 innings of work. He punched out 71 opposing hitters while surrendering just 25 walks to the opposition. He now gets his chance to try and strut his stuff at the next level with the Whitecaps as part of his road to Detroit.
There’s one thing that is certain; the slider is his best pitch. He uses the slider as the out-pitch, as he should. In fact, it can act as a primary offering at times. The slider is easily big-league ready. I’d venture to say that his slider was big-league caliber soon after he got in and settled with the Tigers organization.
It spins 3,000 RPM plus at times and has a filthy break to it. Need proof?
Jackson Jobe: 7 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/jMCbSV2pJJ
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) July 27, 2022
It’s a pitch he can backfoot to lefties and get righties to chase. I’d venture to say he would have plenty of success with Javier Báez if he faced him today with the way this pitch breaks. While there’s still room for polish overall, Jobe’s slider is easily the best aspect of his repertoire.
His fastball is the thing that needs polish. While the command is stellar, in the clip above, you see clips of him spotting it up and showing the “F-You” fastball that some scouts refer to. In all reality, Jobe’s fastball is not there yet. He’s 20, so there’s time to keep growing into it, and he’s showing plenty of growth.
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In the article from the Detroit Free Press above, Evan Petzold noted that the Tigers Player Development department, Ryan Garko especially, is really pleased with the track he’s on. The fastball is up to 97 mph now, which is great. I’d like to see him continue working the mid-90s and holding, getting into the upper-90s more often.
The fastball command is solid and appears to be getting better based on the Tigers’ comments. Having command on your side is always a plus. The development path still seems really strong for Jobe, with plenty of upside long-term, but it relies on the fastball continuing to become a solid pitch in his arsenal.
The slider is the money-maker, the out-pitch, and the dominant one, but he needs to define the fastball more to be that “F-You” fastball, the fastball he can put guys away with. Or at least the fastball he can continue to use to set up the slider well.
Jobe getting moved up to the High-A level will be a good thing for him. He’s going to get tested and get the chance to prove that he can be a dominant arm. Jobe’s on a great path towards the majors; he just needs to keep up the development.
