It's perhaps time for the Tigers to start worrying about Jackson Jobe

The Detroit Tigers' bullpen starred in the final five-plus frames of Wednesday's extra-innings victory over the Colorado Rockies, so much so that it nearly made fans forget what happened in the first four.

Rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe, who recently graduated off MLB Pipeline's Top-100 Prospects list, got lit up by Colorado's league-worst offense in the shortest start of his young career. The 22-year-old allowed six runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out two batters over 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the lowly Rockies before being replaced by Brant Hurter in the fourth.

Jobe was initially slated to start Tuesday, but his outing was pushed back one day due to a rainout. He gave up a two-run homer to Ryan McMahon in the first inning, and it only got worse from there. He gave up another two-run shot – this time to Michael Toglia – in the third. He pitched into the fourth frame but got the hook after giving up another run on a pair of hits in that inning.

It was by far the worst start of the campaign for Jobe, who hadn't given up more than three runs in a start this season prior to Wednesday. He will look to bounce back in his next start, which is tentatively set to come against the Boston Red Sox next week.

It's perhaps time for the Tigers to start worrying about Jackson Jobe

Is Jobe's poor performance against the Rockies an outlier, or could it be indicative of a more serious problem? Unfortunately for the Tigers, underlying metrics are pointing toward the latter.

For starters, Jobe is the only member of the Tigers' starting rotation with an ERA over 4.00 (4.88). With a 2-0 record through six starts, he has yet to record a loss this season – but that's because he usually gets pulled before a decision can be made.

According to Baseball Savant, Jobe ranks in the 83rd percentile among all Major League pitchers with an average fastball velocity of 96.3 mph. He also boasts an above-average breaking run value – which measures how much a pitch's movement (or lack thereof) impacts the run value of a play – in the 73rd percentile. Beyond that, though, everything else looks pretty bleak.

Jobe is below average in nearly every advanced metric among MLB pitchers. He is in the 33rd percentile for chase rate (25.6%), 21st percentile for whiff rate (20.8%), 14th percentile for strike rate (16.4%) and 15th percentile for walk rate (12.3%), to name a few.

The Tigers' rotation as a whole has been stellar this season, but it might be time to start worrying about Jobe. The bullpen may have bailed him out against Colorado, but he won't always be so lucky. It's worth keeping a critical eye on the promising rookie moving forward.

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