CHICAGO -- Jackson Jobe came out of high school five years ago with a high-spin slider at the top of his scouting report, a wipeout pitch that drew attention when the Tigers drafted him third overall that summer.
When Jobe began his quick rise up the Tigers' farm system in 2023, he featured a devastating combination of high-powered fastball and changeup that messed with hitters’ timing and racked up strikeouts.
When the Tigers called up Jobe to their bullpen for the stretch run and postseason two years ago, he was a big arm brought in to overpower hitters and provide a velocity dimension that Detroit’s bullpen lacked.
That heater was back in focus during rehab outings this summer, cracking triple digits on radar readings as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. But as he finishes up his comeback campaign, having spent the last two months stretching out his arm in the Tigers' rotation, the spin is back in, and he looks closer to rounding out the total package.
“I feel like much more of a complete pitcher now,” Jobe said. “I feel like I have a lot of different weapons, which [catcher Dillon Dingler] has done a great job of recognizing which ones are best in each situation.
“They all want to hit the four-seam fastball, so it’s [a matter of] finding the right time to use it. Even though it’s 98 [mph], if they’re sitting on it and you give it to them, they’re more times than not going to hit it.”
For much of Saturday afternoon at Rate Field, Jobe had the White Sox grasping for a read on what they could hit. He fanned the middle third of Chicago’s lineup in order in the fourth inning -- Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi on sliders, then Colson Montgomery on a curveball. He fanned Benintendi, Montgomery and Chase Meidroth consecutively his first time through the order on a slider, a 98 mph fastball and a changeup, respectively.
When Jobe froze Montgomery on a changeup to end the sixth inning, it marked Jobe’s ninth strikeout of the day, topping the career high he’d set Sunday, which topped the previous career high he’d tied in his start before that.
It went for naught in a 3-1 loss to the White Sox that turned on a Sam Antonacci sacrifice fly and a Miguel Vargas solo homer. Still, it’s a trend in the right direction as Detroit prepares to build its rotation around Jobe and Troy Melton going into next season.
“For my development moving forward, I’m definitely moving in the right direction, especially the last few starts,” Jobe said.
Jobe threw more sliders Saturday than any other pitch, 40 out of his 96 pitches according to Statcast, more than double his rate for the season. Some of those were cutters, such as the pitch Vargas sent deep to left leading off the sixth inning for his sixth homer off Tigers pitching this season. But even if the percentage was a little inflated, it was a big jump for a pitcher who leaned heavily on his four-seamer as he settled back into a routine of pitching every five or so days and built up his arm endurance.
White Sox hitters swung at 23 of Jobe’s 40 sliders, according to Statcast, whiffing on eight of them. He drew only one whiff on his retinkered curveball, but flipped it into the zone for three called strikes. The mix of movements allowed Jobe to use his fastball more effectively as a change of speeds, getting four called strikes and three whiffs out of the 16 four-seamers he threw.
It was a flip from his meeting with the White Sox in Detroit last month, when he threw about 40 percent four-seamers, gave up six runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings and struggled to get swings and misses.
“I thought he was excellent,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “The command was good. He threw a ton of strikes. He missed some bats. I know the homer at the end is probably going to leave a bad taste in his mouth just because it was a backup spin to Vargas, which has been a real problem for us and for the rest of the league, too.
“I think he threw the ball very, very well and gave us a chance to win. He should be proud of the way he threw and the results he got.”