The Detroit Tigers are proving that the pitching performances they got in 2024 to power their return to the postseason and to MLB prominence were no fluke.
Reigning American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal has picked up right where he left off, and free agent returnee Jack Flaherty and former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize have been dominant as well.
They’ve been joined in this year’s starting rotation by another phenomenal talent in rookie Jackson Jobe, who has met and even exceeded even the lofty expectations that were set for him by his prospect status.
Jobe entered the season as a consensus top-five prospect in the sport, earning the No. 3 spot from Baseball America and No. 4 from Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline.
MLB.com analyst Jason DeRosa recently broke down the contenders for the American League Rookie of the Year award — a loaded race with plenty of talented contenders off to strong starts.
DeRose placed Jobe in the highest tier, dubbing him as one of the favorites off to a hot start.
“In a starting role for the first time as a Major Leaguer, Jobe has been a welcome addition to the Detroit rotation,” DeRosa wrote. “Opponents are batting just 2-for-19 against Jobe’s slider, and his sinker and curveball have also been plus pitches. MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 overall prospect is here to stay, and that’s a welcome sight for Tigers fans.”
In four starts so far, Jobe is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 20 innings of work.
He’s not just holding his own in what has been the best rotation in the American League so far— he’s excelled.
There’s plenty of room for improvement, too. One perplexing thing about Jobe has been the disconnect between his stuff and his strikeout rate.
The velocity and movement Jobe gets on his fastball combined with the break and spin rate he generates on his curveball are suggestive of a pitcher who should be well over a strikeout per inning, not comfortably under it.
Whether it’s a need to get a better feel for sequencing or how to better locate his tough offerings to fool hitters, Jobe should be able to up his strikeout rate from a paltry 17.1% to really put him among the game’s elite.
If Jobe does wind up taking home the award when all is said and done, he would become the third Tiger since the turn of the century to earn the honor, joining fellow pitchers Justin Verlander (2006) and Michael Fulmer (2016).
He would become the sixth in Detroit franchise history overall.
