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Detroit Tigers not promising top prospect Jackson Jobe will make 2025 Opening Day roster
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- Detroit Tigers not promising top prospect Jackson Jobe will make 2025 Opening Day roster
DALLAS — Detroit Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe is the best pitching prospect in baseball, already has postseason experience and projects to be a frontline starter for years to come.
Despite Jobe's potential, president of baseball operations Scott Harris hasn't promised Jobe will be in the starting rotation as a member of the 2025 Opening Day roster .
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The Tigers won't make that decision until spring training.
"He's going to be a mainstay in our rotation," Harris said Monday at the Winter Meetings, located at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. "I don't know exactly when. We're going to sort all that stuff out in spring training, but he is one of the most talented starting pitching prospects in baseball, and he's going to get a shot there."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe (21) walks off the field for pitching change against Cleveland Guardians during the ninth inning at Game 4 of ALDS at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024.
The 22-year-old righty posted a 2.36 ERA with 45 walks and 96 strikeouts across 91⅔ innings in 21 starts for High-A West Michigan (three starts), Double-A Erie (16 starts) and Triple-A Toledo (two starts). He surrendered six runs on 12 hits and five walks with seven strikeouts across nine innings at the Triple-A level.
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HIS ARRIVAL: How Jackson Jobe learned he would join Tigers: 'It came out of nowhere'
After that, the Tigers promoted Jobe for his MLB debut at the end of September — using him as a reliever — amid an improbable playoff push. He appeared in two games in the regular season and two games in the postseason.
"It gave him an opportunity to get his feet wet," Harris said. "It gave him a chance to get punched in the mouth and identify areas of his game that he needs to work on this offseason."
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In the regular season, he tossed four scoreless innings with one walk and two strikeouts. In the postseason, he allowed three runs on five hits and zero walks with zero strikeouts in 1⅔ innings.
"We think he's going to be better for that experience," said Harris, who noted Jobe needs to improve on strike throwing, pitching different hitters in different ways and trusting his pitch mix in the strike zone zone, "and we think he's going to be in our rotation at some point. We just can't confidently say we know when until we see how he looks in spring training and how the rest of the starters look."
MORE ABOUT JOBE: Why Tigers called up Jackson Jobe as reliever for 'this last week and beyond'
The Tigers have promised Jobe will be a starting pitcher.
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But they haven't promised him a spot on the roster.
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws a pitch against the Tigers in the second inning in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at Comerica Park.
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes , the winner of the 2024 National League Cy Young Award, is an example of why the Tigers are likely to put Jobe on their 2025 Opening Day roster, as long as he is decent in spring training.
Skenes won the NL Rookie of the Year, earning him a full year of service time — thanks to the Prospect Promotion Incentive — that he otherwise wouldn't have picked up. Had the Pirates promoted him earlier, such as putting him on the Opening Day roster, they would have received a draft pick after the first round. However, since they waited until May 11 to promote him, they missed out on the opportunity to get an extra draft pick.
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In 2025, Jobe qualifies for the Prospect Promotion Incentive.
The Tigers probably don't want to make the same mistake as the Pirates.
"In terms of our priorities, we're going to prioritize his development," Harris said. "He's too important to us moving forward. We're going to do what's right for him, first and foremost. If there are secondary benefits to one route versus another, we'll probably weigh it and then debate it way past the point of productivity, and then make a decision."
As for Jobe, the Tigers want to see an improved version when pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12 to Lakeland, Florida.
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From there, Jobe — the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft — needs to use his on-field performance to earn his way into the starting rotation on the 2025 Opening Day roster.
"Making sure that he can land all of his shapes to both sides of the plate and out of the middle of the zone," Harris said. "Every pitcher basically needs to work on that. He's no different. His stuff is elite. He's a really gifted athlete and mover on the mound, but there are still aspects of his game that he can refine in order to get to the ceiling."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers not promising Jackson Jobe will make Opening Day roster
