Detroit Tigers Star Top Prospect Has Up and Down Spring Training Debut

All eyes were on the Detroit Tigers top prospect on Tuesday, and he delivered a performance full of ups and downs.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe, center, talks to j, left, and pitching coach Chris Fetter during spring training at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tuesday marked a massive day for the Detroit Tigers in spring training with more attention on their matchup against the Baltimore Orioles than they have had on an exhibition game in a long time.

While the Tigers suffered their first defeat of the spring by a final score of 8-7, the result of the game was not what anyone had their eye on.

Most Detroit fans who tuned in or paid attention had their focus on the spring training debut of top prospect, and top pitching prospect in all of baseball, Jackson Jobe.

Getting the start against one of the better lineups in the sport that had most of its starters, it was quite the challenge for the future ace.

Things were far from a disaster, but they were not perfect either in Jobe's two innings on the bump.

An overall stat line of just one hit and one walk are admirable, but the 22-year old did give up a long opposite field home run on a fastball to Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad.

Jackson Jobe vs. Heston Kjerstad.

Kjerstad hits a two-run home run with one out in the second inning. #Tigers pic.twitter.com/EUrAniJKEf

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) February 25, 2025

The two-run shot was the only blemish on Jobe's day after walking Tyler O'Neill, but it left him with two earned runs on the day.

On the positive side of things, Jobe struck out Baltimore star catcher Adley Rutschman, as well as getting their MVP-candidate shortstop Gunnar Henderson to fly out to first base.

Jackson Jobe vs. Adley Rutschman.

Rutschman strikes out swinging for the second out in the first inning. #Tigers pic.twitter.com/8ywBdyqDYV

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) February 25, 2025

Jackson Jobe vs. Gunnar Henderson.

Henderson pops out for the first out in the first inning. #Tigers pic.twitter.com/SLacEgja9W

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) February 25, 2025

Overall, it was a decent debut for Jobe with a mistake he wishes he had back.

But expecting a young pitcher who has thrown less than six big league innings to be perfect in his first full spring training is simply not very realistic.

Jobe carved up hitters in Double-A last season, pitching to a 1.95 ERA over 16 starts with 81 strikeouts in 73.2 innings before eventually being called up.

Upon making his Major League debut for Detroit last year, he had some nice innings out of the bullpen to close out the regular season before having a rough go of it in the playoffs.

Now, the right-hander finds himself in a battle to crack the starting rotation on Opening Day, faced all of the sudden with possible newfound depth following strong spring debuts from both Kenta Maeda and Casey Mize.

Jobe still has a few weeks to prove why it should be him at the back end of the staff to start out the year rather than some of the other possible options, but he certainly has a battle ahead of him if he doesn't want to begin the season in Toledo.

Regardless, Jobe is all but guaranteed to contribute heavily at some point this season.

Whether or not that comes straight out of the gate is the question on everybody's mind.