Detroit Tigers Could Have Rookie of the Year Favorite in Next Season's Rotation
The Detroit Tigers head into next season with a ton of reason to be excited about the future.
Coming off an epic run that saw Detroit rally from 9.5 games back in late August to make the postseason and eliminate the Houston Astros in the Wild Card run before coming within one game of an ALCS appearance and falling to Cleveland in five games in the ALDS. Moving forward into 2025, the Tigers will try to add pieces to a team that has the makings of being on the cusp of contention.
But it's the young core in Detroit that will be the biggest factor in terms of whether or not the team can actually compete for a championship. One of the biggest X factors in this conversation whose hype has lost a bit of its luster after he struggled in the playoffs is top prospect Jackson Jobe. Called up in the last week of the season, Jobe was up and down in his first four appearances, but there's no reason to think he's going to be anything but a superstar in the majors. Tony Blackstock of Motor City Bengals says the Tigers have a prime candidate for American League Rookie of the Year in 2025.
"Learning from [Tarik] Skubal throughout the season and having Manager of the Year candidate AJ Hinch as his coach should elevate Jobe's game quickly," Blackstock wrote. "It is hard to compare someone to Paul Skenes, but watching a 22-year-old kid throw 102 MPH with an electrifying sweeper is so exciting for a Tigers team that is riding high into 2025 after a great 2024 campaign. The hype behind this kid should be comparable to the likes of Justin Verlander and Skubal because he has the makings of an absolute star in this league."
Committed to play baseball at Ole Miss, Detroit selected Jobe straight out of high school with the No. 5 overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft after a decorated amateur career in Oklahoma. He has delivered on the hype thus far and climbed the minor league ranks quickly. After the team demonstrated the confidence in him to call him up at the tail end of this season, it seems he figures to be a major factor in 2025.
It just so happens that the Tigers could use another ace to make for the most dominant 1-2 punch in baseball at the top of the rotation with Skubal, and it seems like Jobe could be poised to take on that role as a rookie.
