SARASOTA, Fla. -- Jackson Jobe looked over his left shoulder and kicked out his leg as Heston Kjerstad’s loft carried out to left Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium. It wasn’t so much the opposite-field home run off the 97 mph high fastball that bothered him; he can tip his cap to the Orioles’ young slugger. The nine-pitch walk that preceded it was another matter.
“I feel like when you walk people, they always find a way to get around the bases and score,” Jobe said.
Pitch-wise, Jobe was electric, his fastball sitting at 98 miles per hour and up, his offspeed moving well. The adrenaline rush that marked his lone Grapefruit League appearance last spring gave way to a much more composed, refined young pitcher, focused on the task at hand even after the home run.
His pitch execution is locked in, a good sign for his effort to earn a spot in Detroit’s season-opening rotation. That one batter will eat at him for the next few days says a lot about his competitiveness.
“He’s always going to be a harsh critic on himself, which is generally a good trait,” manager A.J. Hinch said after the Tigers’ 8-7 loss. “I’m glad it’s about the right things. I don’t want him to be frustrated with the wrong things, and strike-throwing in a situation where he has the hitter down is exactly what he’s going to learn to be better at.”
Jobe -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 5 prospect in baseball -- had put Tyler O’Neill in an 0-2 hole with well-located fastballs, then tried to coax the seven-year veteran to chase. O’Neill fouled off three pitches to stay alive and took three others, including a 99 mph high heater. That pitch ran the count full, and his 3-2 offering wasn’t particularly close, putting a runner on for Kjerstad.
“I think [I was] focusing too much on getting him to chase instead of just executing,” Jobe said. “If he puts a bat on it, he puts a bat on it. At this point, honestly, I’d rather give up an 0-2 hit than give up an 0-2 walk and waste five more pitches. That’s just stupid, can’t happen.”
Jobe is well-aware of the need for swing-and-miss in his game, particularly when ahead in counts. He had a similar situation in the first inning after getting Adley Rutschman in a 1-2 count. Rutschman fouled off a 99 mph fastball and took back-to-back offspeed pitches to run the count full. Jobe’s payoff pitch was a changeup just off the outside corner that sent down Rutschman swinging.
“I feel like I got ahead and threw a fair amount of strikes,” Jobe said. “I feel like my strike-throwing is not an issue. It’s just two-strike execution. But luckily, I’ve got a month to work on it.
“I feel like I did a few good things. Really happy with where my stuff’s at. Just gotta do a better job executing.”
Jobe put his full arsenal on display in his first outing of the spring, including a handful of curveballs by his estimation. He landed some of the curves for strikes and threw some non-competitive ones by his standards in other spots, including with two strikes to Rutschman.
“Other than the walk, it’s a good outing,” Hinch said. “This guy’s good. This kid’s got good stuff. I think he stayed composed, which is a good sign. I didn’t expect him to be too amped up, but I expect him to hold himself to a high bar. I thought despite the walk and the homer, we saw a lot of good things.”
He’ll have plenty more chances to build on it. If he stays on a five-day routine, his next outing would be Sunday against the Pirates in Bradenton. How Jobe works in between starts is just about as important for Hinch as what he does in the games. He learned a routine for working in the bullpen after the Tigers called him up for the home stretch last season; now he gets to learn a starter’s cycle, something he has done in the Minor Leagues for a few years.
“This is the first of a handful of starts for us to evaluate where he’s at and what he can do,” Hinch said. “He’s going to be excited, and he should be, because the opportunity is there for him. I just like to see him compete.”