Jackson

Jobe

Universally-regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Jobe made a pair of late-season relief appearances last year for the Tigers, and boasts significant fantasy upside as he joins Detroit’s season-opening rotation. The 22-year-old righty hasn’t missed a ton of bats this spring in Grapefruit League action, but he recorded a near-26 percent strikeout rate last year in the upper minors. The third overall pick from the 2021 MLB Draft boasts triple-digit fastball velocity and added a curveball and sinker to his repertoire during the offseason. He’s a top-60 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes at the moment with the realistic upside to finish significantly higher. There will be some growing pains as he acclimates to life in the big leagues, but his talent is off the metaphorical charts. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats.

The move virtually guarantees spots in Detroit’s season-opening rotation for top prospect Jackson Jobe and Casey Mize. There might be a governor on Jobe’s workload initially, but he’ll make a significant fantasy impact due to his strikeout upside. He’s a top-60 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes at the moment with the upside to finish significantly higher.

That’s one less arm standing in the way of top prospect Jackson Jobe cracking the Opening Day rotation, though he’ll still need to beat out Keider Montero for that final spot. Maeda has registered a 5.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and an impressive 19/1 K/BB ratio over 12 2/3 innings in Grapefruit League action this spring. It seems like his days of fantasy relevancy are likely over.

All three runs came on homers from Jasson Domínguez and Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth. While Jobe gave up just one other hit, eight of the 11 balls in play against him were hit hard, and he generated only three missed swings on the day. He probably needs to thoroughly outpitch Kenta Maeda to convince the Tigers to take him north, and it’s not happening right now.

Jobe pretty much pitched to a draw with one of his idols; he got one more out than Max Scherzer, though he did wind up with five fewer strikeouts (six to one). Jobe has a 3.12 ERA through three starts and is making a strong case for a spot in Detroit’s rotation. It’s just a matter of whether the Tigers want to give him one now or back off him for a bit in April in the hopes of saving some bullets for the stretch run.

The run came on a Henry Davis homer. Jobe topped out at 99.8 mph and averaged 97.9 mph with his fastball today, so he was throwing a little harder than he did at the end of last year. We figured he might be left out of the Detroit rotation after the Jack Flaherty signing, but now that there’s again two spots open with Alex Cobb out, he appears to be in line to make the team.

Jobe retired four in a row before walking Tyler O’Neill and giving up a homer to Heston Kjerstad. It has sounded like he’s been particularly impressive so far in camp, and his chances of landing a rotation spot have increased with Alex Cobb out. Still, the Tigers have a whole lot of options there.

It’s the first time Cobb has thrown since being shut down earlier this month with hip inflammation. The 37-year-old veteran figures to be racing the clock if he’s going to be ready in time for Opening Day. If he’s unable to go, it would likely be some combination of top prospect Jackson Jobe in addition to veterans Casey Mize and Kenta Maeda, among others, vying to replace him in Detroit’s rotation.

The 22-year-old introduced the curveball this offseason in addition to a sinker. Thursday was the first time he was using the curveball in live at-bats during spring training. “I was able to land it. I was able to get whiffs on it. I got a punchy on it. Everything felt pretty good,” Jobe added. Jobe was also up to 98 mph with his four-seam fastball as he looks to secure a spot in the Tigers rotation.

Cobb has been shut down from throwing after receiving a PRP injection last week to address the issue. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Tuesday it’s pushed him back about a month, which suggests he’ll open up the regular season on the injured list. While it’s not ideal that Cobb is already on the shelf, the Tigers weren’t in any way expecting to get 30 starts out of him and they have plenty of rotation options. This definitely increases the chances of Jackson Jobe starting off in the majors, but it’s still far from a lock, with two rotation spots available for Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize, Kenta Maeda, Brant Hurter, Keider Montero, Matt Manning and others.