Detroit Tigers Could Have Extra Motivation To Give Star Prospect Rotation Spot

Nothing is going to be handed to a Detroit Tigers star prospect in spring training, but the team could be motivated to give him a spot for more reasons than one.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe throws during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Heading into the MLB offseason, one of the tasks on the to-do list for the Detroit Tigers was to upgrade the pitching staff.

Manager A.J. Hinch did a wonderful job overcoming the shortage down the stretch in 2024. Having eventual AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal anchoring the staff certainly helped, but the skipper had to use unorthodox gameplans to eat innings when their ace wasn't on the mound.

His “pitching chaos” strategy worked at the time, deploying openers with bulk pitchers behind them or full bullpen games when Skubal wasn’t toeing the rubber.

But it wasn’t a sustainable strategy, as the pitching staff eventually ran out of steam and was defeated by the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS in five games.

Knowing there needed to be changes, several additions were made in the offseason to bolster the rotation.

Alex Cobb was signed to a one-year, $15 million deal early on. With his market not developing as much as he hoped, the team was able to reunite with Jack Flaherty on a two-year, $35 million deal with an opt out after the first season.

With Reese Olson almost assuredly having a spot locked down, things are getting crowded in the Tigers' rotation.

There may no longer be a spot for star prospect Jackson Jobe, whom many were penciling into the Opening Day group heading into spring training.

Now, he will have to earn his way into the mix.

But, Detroit should have some motivation to let Jobe debut this season, as detailed by Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.

“The Tigers can earn an additional draft pick at the end of the first round if Jobe debuts in the majors and either wins the AL Rookie of the Year Award or finishes within the top three in Cy Young voting -- but he'll have to earn it,” he wrote.

He will be competing against Cobb, Casey Mize, Kenta Maeda, Keider Montero and Matt Manning for one of two spots.

That is a lot of pitchers to outperform, but if his track record is an indication of what is to come, he should more than hold his own.

Jobe dominated Double-A with a 1.95 ERA across 73.2 innings with 81 strikeouts. He got a taste of high-intensity baseball as a part of the playoff race in September and made two appearances in the postseason.

He will have his work cut out for him, but the draft pick compensation tied to him could be enough to give him the edge in a close race.