Tigers to promote top pitching prospect for MLB debut in the midst of playoff push

When the Tigers called up Jace Jung and Trey Sweeney in mid-August, it felt like they had nothing to lose in doing so. Although we all know now how the Tigers have fared since the trade deadline, this kind of success — playoff-making success — was out of the picture back then.

Jung and Sweeney have ended up being a huge part of Detroit's hot stretch and taking a Wild Card spot, but no one could've known back then that this would be the outcome. It seemed like Detroit was just giving a couple more top prospects an audition for next year.

With six games left to go, the Tigers control their destiny and just need to solidify their place in the postseason. Things are just clicking for Detroit from top to bottom, and the Royals and Twins are floundering.

But the Tigers are taking things to the next level now. On Monday, they dropped a bombshell: they're calling up No. 2 prospect (MLB's No. 6 overall) Jackson Jobe to make his major league debut. For Jobe, this isn't an audition. This is the Tigers putting a whole lot of faith in their most-hyped prospect of the year.

Tigers calling up No. 2 prospect Jackson Jobe to join bullpen in postseason push

Per Jason Beck of MLB.com, Jobe will be joining the bullpen, and Shelby Miller was designated for assignment to make space on the roster for him. The Tigers will be eating whatever's left of Miller's $3 million this season and voiding their club option for him next season, but that's far from a devastating loss when Miller's been one of the worst pitchers in an otherwise dominant bullpen.

Jobe's sudden promotion is stunning. The Tigers just promoted him to Triple-A on Sept. 8, where he's made two starts and pitched nine innings and has struggled a bit through both. The struggle isn't what makes this surprising, though; earlier this season, the Tigers seemed insistent that they wouldn't accelerate Jobe. Although he didn't reach his 100-inning goal in Double-A due to missing some time with an injury, promoting him toward the end of the season was an easy call.

But to bring him up for the last six games of the year, with a Wild Card spot on the line? That's a level of daringness that the Tigers rarely ever reach for. However, it makes a clear statement: the Tigers believe in their young players, and they're willing to put even the highest stakes situations into their hands.