Jackson Jobe
The Detroit Tigers surprised everyone when they sprinted past the Houston Astros in the 2024 Wild Card Round. In a short series, Detroit is a matchup nightmare led by Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal and a stingy bullpen.
While that makes them hard to score against, they lack depth in the rotation, and opposing teams can expose them in a seven- or even five-game series. Detroit isn't likely to spend big in free agency to bolster their rotation, but they have plenty of internal options, like the third overall pick in the 2021 draft, Jackson Jobe.
Jobe made his big league debut in September of last season. Then, the Tigers deployed him as a Weapon X out of the bullpen for the playoffs, though it didn't go as planned. He gave up runs in both appearances and didn't strike anybody out.
The plan appears to be to move him back into the starting rotation, where he's been his whole career, with the expectation being that he can win a rotation job by pitching well during Spring Training.
Jobe has an impressive array of pitches, including a fastball in the high 90s and a devastating slider. However, he figures to run into an innings limit in 2025 since his career high in any season is just 91.2, set in 2024.
There's a lot to like about Jobe, but he has struggled with allowing too many walks. Plus, the Tigers have a rocky track record in developing pitchers. Even Tarik Skubal didn't dominate out of the gate, and former first-round picks Matt Manning and Casey Mize look like busts.
On the flip side, Reese Olson and Sawyer Gipson-Long look promising. The most likely outcome for 2025 is that Jobe becomes a mid-late rotation starter for an AL Central favorite. If he fully blossoms into a front-line guy in the next year or two, then the Tigers will have one of the best one-two punches in baseball.