Innings plan for Detroit Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe won't be impacted by hamstring injury

Detroit Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, completed 79⅔ innings last season.

In 2024, the Tigers want Jobe to throw at least 100 innings.

But Jobe suffered a left hamstring strain May 1 in his fifth start of the season with Double-A Erie. There isn't a timeline for his return from the injured list, but the plan for his innings this season won't be impacted by the minor injury.

LISTEN UP: 'Days of Roar': Ryan Garko joins podcast to discuss Tigers' player development department

"He was starting to dominate Double-A," Ryan Garko, the Tigers' vice president of player development, told the Free Press on the "Days of Roar" podcast, "so we'll get him back healthy, get him back there to Erie and let him keep pitching. ... We want to try to get him to 100 (innings) this year, at least. I think we can still do that, even with this setback."

[ MUST LISTEN: Make"Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

So far, Jobe, 21, has completed 16⅔ innings this season, posting a 2.16 ERA with 10 walks and 24 strikeouts. (He logged a 2.82 ERA with 11 walks and 103 strikeouts last season.)

NEW THREADS: Tigers' City Connect uniforms hit the street with plenty of automotive connections

Jobe could make his MLB debut this season — possibly out of the Tigers' bullpen in the final months of the season — but getting to the big leagues for the first time at the beginning of the 2025 season as a full-time starter seems more likely.

"In terms of the stuff, we all saw it this spring training," Garko said. "You had guys like (Tarik) Skubal and (Casey) Mize and (Matt) Manning watching him. It is different. Skubal is different, too, and for Jackson, it's the command, the shapes, the velocity, the arm action and the arm speed on the pitches. I think the slider gets a lot of attention, but the changeup and the cutter have become really, really strong secondary pitches. It's a true four-pitch starter arsenal. The changeup, I think, is going to give him weapons against left-handed hitters that will keep him pretty platoon neutral."

MORE ABOUT HIM: How Tigers' Jackson Jobe developed into top pitching prospect nearing MLB debut

The left hamstring strain happened on the second pitch of the fourth inning on May 1 with Double-A Erie. His fifth start ended early with three-plus scoreless innings, zero hits, one walk and five strikeouts, totaling 45 pitches.

Jobe has since reported to Lakeland, Florida, home of the Tigers' spring training facility, to begin the rehabilitation process. It's expected to be "a pretty normal recovery" for Jobe, but Garko didn't share a timeline.

"The hamstring strain, we're digging in on sort of the why behind it," Garko said. "He's down in Lakeland now where we have the most resources. We have a pool where he can get in. He got in the pool already and started the rehab."

The Tigers don't want Jobe to rush his return from the hamstring strain.

"It's something he'll have to work diligently to get through," Garko said. "The most important thing is we want to make sure the hamstring is 100% so he doesn't change his throw at all when he does come back. Sometimes a pitcher, if they have those lower-half injuries, can change their throw a little bit. We'll get through it. We trust our rehab group to take care of Jackson and get him back on the field at 100%."

SPRING TRAINING: Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe shows 'pretty special stuff' in Grapefruit League debut

The Tigers selected Jobe with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He ranks as the No. 3 prospect in the Tigers' organization, according to MLB Pipeline, as well as the No. 22 prospect in baseball.

Jobe has combined for a 2.71 ERA with 127 strikeouts over 96⅓ innings in the 2023-24 seasons. He missed the first two-plus months of last season with a back injury, but four starts in the Arizona Fall League helped make up for some of the innings he missed while sidelined.

"It's been fun watching Jackson grow from a young, pretty raw, not-very-filled-out high school draft pick with tons of potential to a young man that's going to have a really big impact in Detroit, really soon," Garko said. "He's filled out. I'm used to Jackson being a high school kid, standing next to him and feeling bigger than him. This spring training, I stood next to him, and I feel like he's grown a couple more inches, and his shoulders are broader than mine, and I'm looking up at him now, and it's like, 'Woah, this isn't a kid anymore. This is a young man.' In terms of the body, he's filled out, he's really strong, and he's so athletic. His shapes, he's so coachable because he's so athletic. He was a high school shortstop. A lot of times we joke about how unathletic a lot of pitchers are, but he's the opposite. He's an incredible athlete and is able to make quick adjustments."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' plan for Jackson Jobe (hamstring) not changing so far