Detroit pitcher Jackson Jobe, the top pitching prospect in baseball, is being brought up to the big leagues
The Detroit Tigers are calling up righthanded pitcher Jackson Jobe to fortify their bullpen for the final week of what is an extremely unexpected playoff push for the Tigers.
Jobe, the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, is the #2 ranked prospect in MLB according to Baseball America, trailing only Boston outfielder Roman Anthony. The 22 year old has put up a 2.36 ERA in 91.2 innings over 21 appearances between high-A, AA and AAA, though he has spent most of the year at AA. Jobe missed a good chunk of 2023 due to lumbar spine inflammation.
Jobe was selected one pick after the Texas Rangers selected Jack Leiter #2 overall in 2021. The Rangers were rumored to have serious interest in Jobe, though they reportedly had Leiter at the top of their board throughout. Leiter has made progress this year after a couple of rough minor league seasons, but he’s still well behind Jobe at this point.
Detroit has been one of the hottest teams in baseball since the trade deadline — ironic, given that the Tigers sent both Carson Kelly and Andrew Chafin to the Rangers in separate deadline deals, when the Tigers were sellers and the Rangers were buyers. Detroit’s heater, combined with Minnesota and Kansas City falling off of late, have the Tigers well-positioned to grab a Wild Card spot.
It turns out that a mid-80s win total will likely get you into the playoffs in the American League. Lamentably, the Rangers haven’t played well enough to take advantage of that. I’d probably be more bothered by that if I didn’t have that World Championship from last season to enjoy and help tide me over.