Detroit Tigers: Top 20 prospects for 2022 – Part Two

Detroit Tigers No. 4 Prospect – Jackson Jobe – RHP

At the beginning of 2020’s summer showcase circuit Jackson Jobe was an intriguing shortstop prospect with power potential and a good arm that let him work as a closer. By the following July, when the Detroit Tigers selected him with the 3rd overall pick, he had developed into one of the best pitching prospects of the last decade. The industry has largely shied away from prep righties in recent years, with good reason, but the Tigers took a shot on a player who arguably had the highest upside in the draft.

There’s an awful lot to like about Jackson Jobe. He’s an above-average athlete who also played quarterback and safety for his high-school football team, and he has athletic bloodlines as the son of a professional golfer. Jobe’s fastball sits in the 92-94 MPH range and hit the upper 90s last spring, and his slider already shows the spin rate and movement of a borderline-elite MLB offering. Scouts also put a future plus grade on his changeup, and think his upper-70s curve has a chance to be above-average as well. He has a relatively simple drop-and-drive delivery that should help him throw strikes and miss bats at the top of the zone. There’s true #1 starter upside here, but Jobe hasn’t thrown a pitch in pro ball yet, and the path forward is filled with obstacles.