Watch All Three Outs of Detroit Tigers' Top Prospect's 9th Inning Debut
The Detroit Tigers called up their top pitching prospect and the No. 6 overall prospect in baseball this week in Jackson Jobe and did not waste any time in getting him involved.
While Jobe had only pitched as a starter throughout his professional career, manager A.J. Hinch said upon the news of his call up that he would be working out of the bullpen in order to help the team both hopefully finish off clinching the postseason as well as contributing during the playoffs.
Jobe came in on Wednesday night in a low pressure situation with the team leading 7-1 and made his official major league debut, giving up 1 hit but no runs and getting all three outs to help bring Detroit even closer to clinching.
MLB's top-ranked pitching prospect Jackson Jobe works a scoreless frame in his big league debut for the @tigers!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 26, 2024
The 22-year-old topped out at 99.3 mph in his first official relief appearance as a pro. pic.twitter.com/v0jQZPZyWQ
Jobe is just a 22-year-old, selected out of high school by the Tigers with the No. 3 overall selection of the 2021 MLB Draft. Previously committed to play for Ole Miss, Jobe elected to sign and start his professional career early and has excelled over his 21 career Minor League starts across three different levels. He owns a 5-3 record with a 2.36 ERA with a bulk of that coming for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. Over his 16 starts in Erie, Jobe put up a blazing 1.95 ERA and went 4-2 while putting up 81 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings.
With Wednesday's win, Detroit moved their magic number to just 3 and gives the team a greater than 90 percent chance of making the postseason. The story of the league down the stretch now stands on the precipice of one of the more improbable comebacks in recent baseball history.
The Tigers wrap up their series against the Rays on Thursday before one final series of the season where they will take on the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox and presumably have a fantastic shot to lock things up. As of Thursday morning, both Detroit and the Kansas City Royals hold a two-game lead in the AL Wild Card standings over the Minnesota Twins.
MICHAEL BRAUNER