Top Detroit Tigers Prospect Compared to Recent World Series Champion

Who did the top prospect for the Detroit Tigers get compared to?

Detroit Tigers pitcher Jackson Jobe throws a pitch during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With Spring Training underway for the Detroit Tigers, the team is looking to be in strong shape coming into the next campaign.

This winter, the focus for the organization was to improve their pitching staff. Despite a lot of success last year, they relied heavily on the bullpen and their ace to get them as far as they did.

However, while that did work for an amazing six-week stretch at the end of the year and into the playoffs, it’s a formula that isn’t sustainable for a whole season.

With starting pitching especially being a need, the Tigers were able to sign Alex Cobb to provide them some depth and then more recently had a nice reunion with Jack Flaherty.

The addition of Flaherty was arguably the most significant splash for the team, considering he gives them a front-end starter to pair with Skubal.

While the talented right-hander will help them in 2025, Detroit has some high hopes that another pitcher will take a big step forward and reach his potential to be a front-end starter. That pitcher is a top prospect, Jackson Jobe.

The right-hander was called up right at the end of the season and was on the postseason roster for the Tigers in 2024. While he did pitch a little bit, Detroit didn’t overextend their young pitcher.

Now, the right-hander is going to have to have a strong spring to prove that he belongs in the rotation on the Opening Day roster.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com recently spoke about the Top 100 prospects in baseball. On the list for the Tigers was their young starter Jackson Jobe, who drew comparisons to Walker Buehler.

As a top-10 prospect in baseball, Detroit is excited to see what the former first-round pick will be able to accomplish.

The comparison to a great pitcher like Buehler is certainly high praise, with the right-hander having some excellent seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before getting injured.

If Jobe took that type of career trajectory and became an All-Star pitcher like Buehler, the Tigers would be very happy.

Even though he might win a spot in the rotation to start the campaign, Detroit is going to have to be careful with him. He only pitched 91.2 innings in the minors last year, so watching his innings will be something they have to monitor.

The right-hander certainly has some excellent stuff and was good in the minor leagues. If he can reach the level that Buehler was before getting hurt, he will be an excellent pitcher for a long time in Detroit.