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Jackson Jobe's quote on his October role will fire up Tigers fans

Bullpen Jobe is a different breed.
Emma Lingan
Emma Lingan

Motor City Bengals

Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Feb. 23, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2024 Detroit Tigers' magical playoff push has consisted of one surprise after another, with the latest being the club's decision to add top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe to the big league roster prior to this week's three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 22-year-old right-hander is expected to be a key piece of the Tigers' starting rotation in the future, likely as soon as next season. For now, however, he is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for Detroit over the final week of the regular season and a potential playoff push as the Tigers look to punch their ticket to October for the first time since 2014.

Jobe went 5-3 with a 2.36 ERA over 21 starts at three different levels in the Tigers' farm system this year. He doesn't have much experience as a relief pitcher, but with his innings likely to be limited in Detroit, fans should expect to see his triple-digit fastball on full display.

"I might only get one inning," Jobe told reporters Tuesday (via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). "I'm emptying the tank, for sure."

Jackson Jobe expected to help fuel Tigers' improbable postseason run

The Tigers officially entered the American League Wild Card picture Sunday with a win over the Baltimore Orioles and losses by the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals. It was their latest achievement in what has been an improbable run to playoff contention.

As recently as last month, Detroit was 55–63 and 10 games out of the third and final AL Wild Card spot. But the Tigers went 14–5 to close out the month of August and have gone 13–6 so far in September to surge in the standings. Now, with six games to go, they're pulling out all the stops with the addition of Jobe to their active roster.

"We're trying to do everything we can to use our best guys in the best situations to win as many games as we can," Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Tuesday (via Petzold). "[Jobe] has some of the most electric stuff in the game. ... It means we think he can help us win."

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Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan

Emma Lingan is an MLB Staff Writer for FanSided primarily covering the Pittsburgh Pirates. She has been covering baseball for more than a decade dating back to her time as a student at Wake Forest University, and she has won two gold medals as a member of the U.S. National Team delegation (2016 Pan-American Championships & 2017 World Baseball Classic). A native of Washington, D.C. and current resident of Nashville, Tenn., she is also entering her seventh season as a credentialed NHL media member and currently covers the NHL’s Nashville Predators for The Hockey News. When she's not watching hockey, baseball or football, she enjoys podcasting, reading, going to the gym, consuming large amounts of coffee and taking long walks with her dog, Minkah. You can follow her @Emma_lingan on Twitter and Instagram.