What Detroit Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe thinks about chances of making MLB debut in 2024

LAKELAND, Fla. — Right-hander Jackson Jobe, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, completed his first bullpen session at the Detroit Tigers' spring training facility on Tuesday morning, throwing somewhere between 20-25 pitches.

The 21-year-old, whose high-velocity four-seam fastball improved in multiple ways when he moved to the third-base side of the mound at the end of last season, plans to throw around 30-35 pitches in his next bullpen, scheduled for Friday morning.

It's the first year Jobe has been invited to big-league spring training.

"I've been mostly throwing bullpens Tuesdays and Fridays, so those are my heavier days," said Jobe, who threw a live batting practice session last Friday at PitchingWRX in Oklahoma City before reporting to Lakeland. "I've been touching the mound a little bit on Mondays and Thursdays. We'll see when we start lives, but I'm just trying to get acclimated right now."

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Fellow right-hander Casey Mize watched Jobe's first bullpen.

"He's really impressive," Mize said. "I know it's a big arm and crazy spin, but it's nice and easy, just freakin' laying them in there, hitting the mitt. I know he doesn't walk many guys. He's a strong guy. I think the world of him. I think he's going to be really good, and he already is really good. I'm looking forward to seeing him do his thing this spring."

Mize remembers being in big-league camp for the first time in 2019, three years before his elbow surgery and back surgery in 2022. He was drafted No. 1 overall in 2018 out of college; Jobe was drafted No. 3 overall in 2021 out of high school.

Mize is willing to pass along his MLB experiences to Jobe, as well as his lessons learned as a top draft pick and top prospect, but the 26-year-old also recognizes Jobe's success and wouldn't mind asking the new kid some questions of his own.

"We can work through stuff or whatever," Mize said, "but he seems to be doing all right."

In 2023, Jobe registered a 2.82 ERA with 11 walks and 103 strikeouts across 79⅔ innings in 20 starts. He made one start in Double-A Erie and four starts in the Arizona Fall League to finish his second professional season, which began with a back injury in last year's spring training.

"I focused more on training smarter after that injury rather than harder," Jobe said. "I really focused on areas to keep myself healthy rather than trying to get in the weight room and move a ton of weight. That was probably the biggest adjustment for me."

Jobe dominated in his return from the injury.

He wasn't fazed by the AFL's upper-level hitters, posting a 2.87 ERA, five walks and 19 strikeouts across 15⅔ innings.

"I felt really good about my start in Double-A," Jobe said of possibly returning to Double-A Erie in 2024. "I got to face some higher-level hitters in the Fall League, and I felt good about it. I feel like I've gotten a lot better over the past year, and obviously, the hitters are getting better as I go up, so it'll be a good challenge for me, but I felt pretty good about it."

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The first-time big-league camper, who doesn't turn 22 until the end of July, took notice of Mize watching his bullpen from behind a chain-link fence.

"It's definitely cool," Jobe said. "I'm doing the same thing, hanging around, watching them, trying to see what they're doing. It's cool. That's kind of all I got on that, it's pretty cool."

Mize and Jobe won't be teammates at the beginning of the season, but if Jobe dominates in Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo, he could be in the mix to join Mize and the Tigers for his MLB debut at some point in the second half of the season.

Maybe just in time for a postseason push.

"It's easy to sit here and say that I want to be a big leaguer," Jobe said. "I think everyone out here would like to be a big leaguer this year, but obviously, there's some stuff that goes into that. I got to do my part, and then we just got to see what happens, but that would be pretty cool, for sure."

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 prospect Jackson Jobe not ruling out rapid rise to MLB