Jackson Jobe has added a new pitch to his arsenal
The Detroit Tigers drafted Jackson Jobe third overall in 2021, much to the dismay of many fans. He's had an up-and-down start to his pro career, culminating in a back injury that has caused him to miss the entire 2023 season so far. But recently, he's started to make some rehab starts, and we've seen an interesting development.
Jobe made a rehab start today in Low-A Lakeland, and it would appear that Jobe has added a fifth pitch to his arsenal. In addition to the fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup, it looks like he's added a cutter.
This is a very intriguing development. Jobe could always spin it with the slider and curveball, and the fastball was solid. But now with the cutter, that adds more depth to his arsenal.
It gives him something kind of in between that fastball/slider combo that made him so lethal in high school.
What's also encouraging here is that his fastball averaged close to 97 mph. That's very high, considering last year he averaged 93-95 most of the time. He could just be running on adrenaline, or the radar gun down in Lakeland could be hot, but if that's real, oh boy. Things could have just gotten real interesting for Jackson Jobe.
It would be interesting to learn how or why Jobe added the cutter. It would also be interesting to learn if he was the one who wanted to add it, or if the Tigers wanted him to start throwing it. Either way, this is a very intriguing development for the Tigers top pitching prospect.
Pretty soon, Jobe will be back in High-A West Michigan, where he ended last season. We'll actually get to see some video of him when he gets there, which will be nice. We're looking forward to see how he continues to develop.