Jackson Jobe is a hard-throwing 22-year-old who can help the Detroit Tigers win in 2025. He is still an unfinished product, however, and the team will need to exhibit the Patience of Jobe to get him and the ballclub to its’ desired destination – the playoffs. The right-hander from Oklahoma with the smoking fastball had a good first spring outing earlier this week. His manager was happy. Jobe wasn’t. He did not like walking a batter and giving up two runs. DETROIT: Jackson Jobe of the Detroit Tigers pitches in Game 4 of the AL Division Series against the ... [+] Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park on Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Monica Bradburn/MLB Photos via Getty Images) MLB Photos via Getty Images “I felt good,” Jobe told Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “Physically and mentally, felt really good. First game in a while, so it was good to be back out there. But the biggest takeaway from me was the 0-2 to walk. That just can’t happen.” He got two quick strikes on Baltimore Orioles slugger Tyler O’Neill, who then coaxed an eight-pitch walk. Heston Kjersted followed with a two-run homer, the only hit Jobe allowed over two innings and 31 pitches. “Just focusing too much on getting him to chase instead of executing,” Jobe said. “If he puts the bat on it, he puts the bat on it. I’d rather give up an 0-2 hit than an 0-2 walk and waste five more pitches. It’s just stupid. Can’t happen. MORE FOR YOU House Passes Budget Bill: Trump Touts ‘Big First Step’ For Mike Johnson NYT ‘Strands’ Today: Hints, Spangram And Answers For Wednesday, February 26th Nvidia Earnings: AI Giant Brought In $39 Billion During Fourth Quarter—Smashing Forecasts “I’m not going to be too hard on myself, but we strive for perfection, right?" Manager A.J. Hinch said Jobe usually is his own toughest critic. “This guy’s good," he told Jason Beck of MLB.com. "This kid’s got good stuff. I thought despite the walk and the homer, we saw a lot of good things.” Hinch said the opportunity is there to claim a rotation spot with 2024 AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, veteran Jack Flaherty, Reese Olson and Casey Mize. Those four combined for 91 starts and 540 strikeouts over 513 1/3 innings a year ago as Detroit finished second in the AL Central at 86-76, beat the Houston Astros in two games in a wild-card series before losing to the rival Cleveland Guardians in a wildly exciting five-game AL Division Series. Jobe’s competition will be from Keider Montero (6-6 in 16 starts), Matt Manning (11-15 in 50 career starts) and swingmen Kenta Maeda and Beau Briske. Veteran Alex Cobb is out with a left hip injury and will not be ready for opening day after signing a one-year, $15 million deal in December. Jackson Jobe Scouting Report His fastball was consistently clocked at 98-99 mph against Baltimore. No surprise. That’s why the 6-2, 190-pounder is ranked No. 5 overall among all prospects by MLB Pipeline. A year ago, one of his pitches hit 101.8, fastest of anybody in 2024 spring training. Jobe also has an electric slider that gets plenty of swing-and-miss at around 86 mph. There are scouts who say the slider will emerge as Jobe’s most effective pitch. He also uses an 89 mph cutter and changeup. SCOTTSDALE, AZ: Jackson Jobe of the Detroit Tigers pitches for the Salt River Rafters against the ... [+] Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League on Oct. 9, 2023. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) MLB Photos via Getty Images The Tigers picked him third overall out of high school and paid him $6.9 million. They have been careful to limit his workload. In the minors, Jobe worked 233 innings, gave up only 184 hits, fanned 261 and walked 81. Jobe went 5-3 with a 2.36 ERA across three levels in 2024, allowing 58 hits over 91 2/3 innings. He made his MLB debut in September, allowing one hit over four innings in two relief outings. He worked one short relief outing apiece against Houston and Cleveland in the playoffs. THE WOODLANDS, TX: Brandt Jobe hits from the bunker during the final round of the Insperity ... [+] Invitational at The Woodlands Golf Club on May 1, 2022. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) Getty Images Jobe was a multi-sport star in high school and as quarterback led his team to a state championship in 2018. His father Brandt has won 16 golf tournaments worldwide since turning pro in 1988, the most recent being the 2019 Boeing Classic. Tigers Great Denny McLain Detroit fans have celebrated many great players through the years. Three of the most memorable came up like Jobe as right-handers with explosive fastballs: Denny McLain, Mark (The Bird) Fidrych and Justin Verlander. McLain signed for $10,000 with the Chicago White Sox in 1962. Incredibly, the Tigers claimed him on waivers a year later at age 19, he went 18-6 in the minors and was called up to Detroit. He went 2-1 in three starts. DETROIT: Baseball Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean, who had a 30-7 record in 1934 for the St. Louis ... [+] Cardinals, gives Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain a good luck hug on Sept, 13, 1968, the night before McLain earned his 30th win. Bettmann Archive In 1965-67, McLain had a 53-36 overall record. He was just getting started. At age 24, he had a season for the ages in 1968: 31-6, 1.96 ERA and only 241 hits allowed over 336 innings – the only pitcher to win 30 games since Dizzy Dean in 1934. In 1969, McLain won his second straight Cy Young Award with a 24-9 record, including 9 shutouts. Then it all fell apart. He hurt his arm and went 17-34 the next three years, was suspended once for gambling and once for carrying a loaded gun on the team plane, He was traded Washington, Oakland and Atlanta. Ironically, the last man he faced in the majors at age 28 was Pete Rose, later suspended for life for gambling on baseball. McLain, now 80, later went to prison for drug trafficking and had various scrapes with the law. Mark Fidrych was Detroit’s 10th-round pick in 1974 out of high school. He pitched only 205 innings in the minors before he set the game on fire in 1976. He went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games at age 21. WORCESTER, MA: Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark (the Bird) Fidrych at home with "a friend" in 1976. The ... [+] 21-year-old right hander got his nickname from minor-league coach Joe Hogan, who said the pitcher resembled the "Sesame Street" character. Bettmann Archive His fastball wasn’t that fast, but had great movement. He fanned only 97 in 250 1/3 innings, but got so many outs on weak grounders. He also talked to the baseball, scurried around the diamond to congratulate teammates, and became the biggest drawing card in the game. Author Doug Wilson in his new biography: reveals that in the rookie’s 29 starts, attendance totaled 901,239 -- more than four teams drew all that season. Fidrych's contract was for the MLB minimum at the time, $16,500. It was raised to $19,000. The bigger number turned out to be Fidrych’s 24 complete games. He was firing pitches at critical times and it took a toll. He battled a sore arm and worked only 162 innings the next three seasons. He went to the minors for three more and retired at age 28. “Optimus Prime” That is Justin Verlander’s nickname in the clubhouse, where he has been a mainstay since signing for $3.12 million as the second overall pick in 2004 out of Old Dominion. San Diego took Matt Bush (12-11 MLB career record). Detroit got Verlander. All that Verlander has done is throw three no-hitters, win three AL Cy Young Awards, one AL MVP Award, 262 games and another 17 in the post-season. DETROIT: The scoreboard after Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers pitched a no-hitter against the ... [+] Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park on June 12, 2007. The Tigers won, 4-0. (Photo by Calvin Doctor/MLB Photos via Getty Images) MLB Photos via Getty Images Verlander worked only 118 2/3 innings in the minors before making his MLB debut on July 4, 2005, in Cleveland. I covered that game and saw the 22-year-old’s fastball hit triple digits on the radar gun. The host Indians hit a lot of them, too. Verlander yielded two singles, two walks, two doubles, a stolen base, three runs and threw a wild pitch. And that was just in the first inning. He went 0-2 in two MLB starts that year. In 13 years in Detroit, he had a 183-114 record in 380 starts. In 19 seasons overall, he has a 262-147 record and 3,416 strikeouts in 3,415 2/3 innings. He has pitched in 526 games, all starts and is now with the San Francisco Giants at age 42. Jackson Jobe’s Future He has the physical stuff and mental makeup to be a star. It could happen immediately, take awhile, or not happen at all. Just a glimpse at the careers of the supremely talented McLain, Fidrych and Verlander shows how wildly different outcomes can occur. The game of baseball and how ballclubs protect their prospects is immensely different from the days of McLain and Fidrych. Jackson Jobe’s chances are significantly better to succeed long-term. For him, there's no time like the present. The Tigers hope so, too -- but are willing to have the patience FOR Jobe. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades