After almost 14 grueling months, Jackson Jobe is finally back. The 100 mph-throwing 24-year-old pitcher arrived Tuesday, August 4, at T-Mobile Park, just hours before the Detroit Tigers kicked off their series against our very own Mariners. This isn’t just another call-up; it’s a massive moment for a team desperate for a shot at October, and Jobe is set to make his return debut this weekend in San Francisco, likely as the starter in a nationally televised game Saturday evening at 7:15 p.m. on Fox.
Jobe’s Long Road Back and What It Means for Detroit’s Rotation
This comeback has been a long time coming for Jobe, who’s been sidelined for nearly 14 months recovering from Tommy John surgery. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris wasn’t kidding when he said reinforcements were on the way, and Jobe is a huge piece of their future, maybe even their present. Manager A.J. Hinch plans to stretch him out to help a rotation thinned out with Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize gone. Don’t expect him to go deep right away though. He threw 70 pitches over four innings in his last rehab start for High-A West Michigan on Sunday, getting 45 strikes in his fifth rehab outing this season, and he’ll be on a pitch count against the Giants. The Tigers are just 2½ games out of the final American League wild-card spot, and they’re gonna need those innings, and they gotta be productive ones, if they’re gonna make a real run. Jobe’s just grinning, grateful, and ready to prove he belongs, that he’s stronger. The call he got late Monday back in Detroit must have been the sweetest after all that time.
Kenley Jansen’s Blunt Truth About the AL Wild Card
While Jobe’s arm is a huge piece of the puzzle, a few veteran Tigers teammates aren’t just waiting around. Right-handed reliever Kenley Jansen is leading the charge, making it clear this playoff push isn’t some pipe dream. Jansen told reporters he chose the Tigers in the offseason because he hasn’t made the playoffs since 2022, and he misses it bad. He knows what that means for him: he needs to step it up, big time. “I need to step it up,” he said, “pitch better. You know, I’ll be showing that a little bit. And the rest of the guys can step up … We just gotta come out there with a chip on our shoulder. … Let’s lock it down and hopefully the lineup just keeps doing what they’re doing, and we’ll take it from there.” And then he laid down the ultimate truth bomb: “I’ll be honest, the American League is not that great this year, and everything is wide open. The division is wide open. … People count us out? Great. I love it. We gotta prove it. Not proving [for] other people … prove to ourselves what we’re capable of. … I gotta prove to myself to be better out there.” Talk about a challenge thrown down.
Jobe’s big league return is set for Saturday evening in San Francisco. With Kenley Jansen lighting a fire under the whole team and calling out the AL, the Tigers are looking to make some noise. It’s time to see if they can prove to themselves, and to everyone else, that they’re for real.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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