The Detroit Tigers are calling up one of the top prospects in baseball as they continue their improbable playoff push.
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Pitcher Jackson Jobe, the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect and MLB.com’s sixth-ranked prospect, is getting promoted ahead of Detroit’s three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Jobe is joining the hunt.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 23, 2024
The Tigers will select the contract of RHP Jackson Jobe to the Major League roster prior to the upcoming series against Tampa Bay. pic.twitter.com/REDkpIYIV7
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports Jobe, whom the Tigers selected third overall in the 2021 MLB Draft, will be pitching out of the bullpen.
Jobe, who consistently throws in the upper-90s and can touch triple digits, pitched across three minor league levels this season, going 5-3 and punching out 96 in 91 2/3 innings. His ERA was 2.36.
The move comes as the Tigers have a one-game lead over division-rival Minnesota Twins for the third and final Wild Card spot.
This is what happened the last time Jackson Jobe pitched out of the Bullpen.
— Motor City Metrics (@mcmbaseballpod) September 23, 2024
Fastballs above 100 mph https://t.co/pzZ8SF36Zn pic.twitter.com/fYEzVsNudR
The Tigers have been on a remarkable run in the second-half of the season. On July 4, they were nine games under .500, and as recently as Aug. 10, their playoff odds sat at a putrid 0.2 percent, according to The Athletic.
However, the Tigers have gone an astonishing 26-11 over the past 37 games while the Twins have collapsed.
The Tigers have a three-game series against the Rays beginning Tuesday and will face the Chicago White Sox for another three games to close out the regular season.
If the Tigers are able to clinch a Wild Card spot, it would be the first time since 2014 they have been in the playoffs.
The Athletic reports the Tigers can petition the commissioner’s office to add Jobe onto the postseason roster if they make it that far.
Related: MLB Power Rankings