Jackson Jobe's most promising Tigers start yet is another tantalizing hint at 2027

Jackson Jobe was on the mound for the Tigers as they looked to sweep Rockies on Sunday — their first sweep since late July/early August against the Athletics.

Although still coming off of a long absence after Tommy John, his preceding six starts were rocky. The best was probably his first of the year on Aug. 8, when he pitched five one-hit innings against the Giants with a walk and four strikeouts. Even that, though, didn't quite measure up to the third overall draft pick billing.

On Sunday, he gave up a homer to his second batter, provoking fears that this start might be par for the course compared to the rest of his season.

Instead, he settled in and only allowed three more baserunners through the rest of his 6 1/3-inning outing. He only walked one batter and struck out eight, a career high.

The Tigers' offense did more than their fair share behind him, scoring eight runs off of Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes and the Colorado bullpen. Riley Greene picked up his 20th homer of the year, Spencer Torkelson his 23rd.

"There's always next year" has become an exhausting maxim for Tigers fans, especially where expectations were so high for this 2026 team ... but they really have given us a lot to look forward to in 2027.

Jackson Jobe's improvement is just the latest development that has Tigers fans looking forward to 2027

Framber Valdez has been vastly improved over his last few starts; Troy Melton could be in the Cy Young conversation next season; Keider Montero has become one of Detroit's best slow-burn success stories; and Jobe might've given us a preview of what he'll be able to do when he's even further removed from TJ.

The Tigers have been leaning even more heavily into their youth on the offensive side. They have seven rookie position players on the active roster, six of whom appeared in Sunday's game alone. Although everything from this series has to come with a slight caveat — they were playing the Rockies, after all — Detroit's offense just looked livelier at the plate, on the base paths.

We still haven't seen everything Max Clark, Hao-Yu Lee, or even Kevin McGonigle might be fully capable of. We haven't yet seen it with Jobe.

The Tigers have a solid foundation here. Although it came together far too late this year, things are looking up for 2027.

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