DETROIT — Detroit Tigers rookie starter Jackson Jobe is back on the pitching calendar after a long layoff, but he won’t take the mound until Wednesday afternoon’s series finale in Houston against the Astros..
That amounts to 12 days between starts and 11 full days of rest.
“Normal” rest is considered four days off, although the Tigers and other teams increasingly prefer to give their starters five days off when possible.
In any case, Jobe will be on the shelf for a while.
“It’s not ideal to have 12 days off, but he’s handled it well,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
The long layoff is partly by circumstance and partly by design. The Tigers have had a scheduled off day, an unscheduled rainout, and a series of three spot starts by Keider Montero, who was called up from Triple-A Toledo and has served as a de facto “sixth starter.”
The idea was to give every starter an extra day or two of rest — but not more. The longest layoff is going to Jobe because it’s his first full season as a big-leaguer and his workload will be watched closely. A little caution in April and May might allow the Tigers to be more aggressive in September and October.
“Once you push a guy back, when to reinsert him is always tricky,” Hinch said. “We had the rainout, and it created a real decision point on how it impacts five starters. Does it impact four starters? Does it impact one starter? We chose to push Jackson back primarily because it’s his first full season in the rotation.”
The Tigers have won all four of Jobe’s starts this season, even when he hasn’t pitched particularly well. In 20 innings, he has a 2.70 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 10 walks.
Jack Flaherty (1-2, 2.63 ERA) and Reese Olson (3-1, 3.29 ERA) will start Monday and Tuesday, respectively, in Houston. They will each be on five days’ rest.
Remarkably, 27 games into the season, the only pitcher to throw on what used to be called “normal” rest (four days) is Montero — who isn’t even in the rotation.
“That’s about to change here pretty soon,” Hinch said. “But that’s been a strategy that we had hoped we could stay disciplined with. The schedule has helped us, the rainouts have helped, and the off days have helped.”
The Astros have not yet announced their pitching plans, but right-handers Ronel Blanco, Ryan Gusto, and Hayden Wesneski are in line to pitch. The Tigers would miss ace lefty Framber Valdez and Detroit-area native Hunter Brown.
