Jackson Jobe already receiving massive hype despite Tigers’ rotation uncertainty

Last season, Tigers fans only got a tiny glimpse at Jackson Jobe, baseball's No. 1 pitching prospect, but it's still a little shocking that we got to see his MLB debut at all in 2024. With the postseason in sight and the rotation basically just reduced to Tarik Skubal, they had nothing to lose by giving another top prospect a chance to get his feet wet.

Jobe's first four major league innings in relief were almost perfect — he only gave up one hit and one walk — but his 1 2/3 innings during the postseason (1/3 against the Astros in the Wild Card round, the rest against the Guardians in the ALDS) were a different story. He gave up two runs against Houston in a game the offense managed to salvage with an Andy Ibáñez two-run double, and one against Cleveland in a game Detroit went on to lose.

It's hard to hold those few moments against Jobe. The only Tiger with any playoff experience at all in 2024 was Matt Vierling, and Jobe was asked to perform at the highest level with just a single week of regular season experience in the majors behind him.

It feels like we haven't even scratched the surface in regard to what he'll be able to do when he gets fully settled in the majors. MLB.com seemed to think so too, because they decided to shoot the moon with their latest team predictions, preemptively naming Jobe 2025's AL Rookie of the Year.

Jackson Jobe already predicted to win AL Rookie of the Year by MLB.com

Jobe's spot in the 2025 rotation feels like a given but isn't entirely guaranteed. The Tigers have only committed to Skubal, Reese Olson, and Alex Cobb as surefire starters, while Jobe, Kenta Maeda, Casey Mize, and Keider Montero are expected compete for the last two spots in spring training. Jobe was present at spring training in 2024, when he pitched one spotless inning with two strikeouts, but if he can sustain success beyond one inning this time around, his place on the Opening Day roster should be assured.

Despite an injury that kept him from getting to 100 innings in Double-A, as the Tigers had initially planned for him, he was promoted to Toledo in early September, leaving behind a 1.95 ERA in Erie. Although his first two Triple-A starts were rocky, the Tigers still decided to give him his big league debut and put him on the mound in the postseason, even though Mize and Montero were also available.

On Sept. 28 against the White Sox, Jobe got the ball for three no-hit innings, recalling a no-hit bid he took into the seventh inning in Double-A on July 20. If there's more of that in him (and all indications say that there is), then AL Rookie of the Year might not be a stretch of the imagination.