Detroit Tigers sending 8 players to Arizona Fall League, including Jackson Jobe, Jace Jung

The Detroit Tigers are sending eight minor-league players, including six prospects, to the Arizona Fall League.

The eight players will compete for the Salt River Rafters: Right-hander Jackson Jobe, infielder Jace Jung, right-hander Wilmer Flores, infielder Hao-Yu Lee, outfielder Justice Bigbie, right-hander Dylan Smith, right-handed reliever RJ Petit and right-handed reliever Tanner Kohlhepp.

The AFL season begins Oct. 2.

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Of the eight players, six of them are listed on the Tigers' top-30 prospects list (as ranked by MLB Pipeline): Jobe ranks No. 3, followed by Jung at No. 4, Flores at No. 7, Lee at No. 8, Bigbie at No. 21 and Smith at No. 24.

Two of those players — Jobe (No. 54) and Jung (No. 67) — rank among MLB's top 100 prospects.

Five of the eight players that the Tigers are sending to the Fall League missed time due to an injury, or recovering from a past injury, in the 2023 season. Three were healthy all season: Bigbie, Jung and Petit.

Jobe didn't pitch until mid-June due to lumbar spine discomfort sustained in spring training; Flores suffered a right hamstring strain in late July and didn't return until late August; Lee hasn't played since mid-August because of a left quad strain; Smith suffered a right forearm strain in mid-April and didn't return until late July; Kohlhepp underwent Tommy John surgery in the 2022 season and didn't pitch until late June in the 2023 campaign.

The top-ranked prospect is Jobe. The 2021 No. 3 overall pick looked like an elite pitching prospect reborn in his return from the injured list, thanks to a new cutter and revamped changeup.

The 21-year-old posted a 2.81 ERA with six walks and 84 strikeouts over 64 innings in 16 starts, which included a 3.60 ERA in eight starts for High-A West Michigan.

The Tigers promoted Jobe to Double-A Erie for the final game of the SeaWolves' regular season. He threw six scoreless innings on four hits, zero walks and six strikeouts, tossing 59 of 77 pitches for strikes.

His four-seam fastball averaged 96.6 mph in his 16 starts. His cutter had a 31.4% whiff rate, his slider had a 40.6% whiff rate, and his changeup had a 50.5% whiff rate. His changeup led all of his four pitches with a 51.6% chase rate.

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The other pitching prospects, Flores and Smith, also reached the Double-A level in the 2023 season. If all goes well, Flores should begin the 2024 campaign in the Triple-A Toledo starting rotation.

Flores, 22, logged a 4.65 ERA with 33 walks and 90 strikeouts over 89 innings in 21 starts, including a 3.90 ERA in 18 starts for Double-A Erie. Smith, 23, registered a 5.30 ERA with 13 walks and 38 strikeouts over 37⅓ innings in 12 games (11 starts), including a 12.71 ERA in three games (two starts) for Double-A Erie.

Away from the mound, Jung leads the way as the best position-playing prospect that the Tigers are sending to the Fall League. The 2022 No. 12 overall pick is hitting .265 with 28 home runs, 79 walks and 139 strikeouts in 128 games this season, with a .284 batting average in 47 games for Double-A Erie.

The SeaWolves, in part because of Jung's production, won the Eastern League Southwest Division Championship on Thursday and advanced into the Eastern League Championship Series.

There are at least two more games, possibly three games, remaining on the SeaWolves' schedule, starting Sunday against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the New York Mets' Double-A affiliate.

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The Tigers acquired Lee, a 20-year-old from Taiwan, from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-hander Michael Lorenzen at the trade deadline. He played in eight games for High-A West Michigan — hitting .214 with one home run, three walks and nine strikeouts — before landing on the injured list with a left quad strain.

In total, Lee hit .273 with six home runs, 33 walks and 65 strikeouts over 75 games during the 2023 season. He hit .283 with a .372 on-base percentage in 64 games for High-A Jersey Shore in the Phillies' organization before the trade.

Lorenzen, by the way, threw a no-hitter for the Phillies, but has a 6.02 ERA in 43⅓ innings since the Aug. 1 trade.

Saving the best for last: Bigbie has been the biggest success story from the Tigers' player development department this season. He jumped from High-A West Michigan (37 games) to Double-A Erie (63 games) to Triple-A Toledo (13 games).

The Mud Hens' season ends Sept. 24.

The 24-year-old has produced at all three levels, with a .341 batting average with 18 home runs, 41 walks and 77 strikeouts in 113 games. He hit .333 with six homers in West Michigan and .362 with 12 homers in Erie before his promotion to Toledo. He is hitting .250 — but still searching for his first homer — with the Mud Hens.

The Tigers selected Bigbie in the 19th round (at No. 555 overall) in the 2021 draft from Western Carolina University.

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 sending 8 players to fall league, including Jobe, Jung