CHICAGO – Considering the Detroit Tigers are on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs.
Considering they are assured of having a losing record for the first time since 2023.
It’s time to think about 2027 (assuming they play baseball next season, with a lockout all but assured this December).
So, it seems pointless to breakdown the Tigers’ 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox
on Saturday, Sept. 19.Because we have seen this same result over and over. It was the 14th straight time the Tigers lost a game by two runs or less against an American League Central team on the road. And they are 9-24 in such games in the division.
Beep, this is a recording. Saturday's
loss put the Tigers (73-82) on the brink of playoff elimination; the Cleveland Guardians won on Saturday to finally quash the Tigers' AL Central hopes. In the race for the third and final AL wild-card berth, one loss (or one White Sox win over the final week) will knock the Tigers out of the AL wild-card hunt, too.
But do you know the incredibly important thing that came out of this game for the Tigers? At least in the big picture?
Right-hander Jackon Jobe was fantastic, taking another step forward in his development after this season's return from Tommy John surgery. It was his eighth start of 2026 and it was truly impressive.
“I thought he was excellent,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I think the command was good. He threw a ton of strikes. He missed some bats.”
Jobe recorded nine strikeouts – a career high.
He threw 96 pitches – a career high.
He recorded 67 strikes – 10 more than his previous career high.
He had just one walk – the fourth time he’s done that this season.
Jobe went deep into this game and threw six innings – one out from matching his career high. But he had one bad pitch to Miguel Vargas, who jacked a two-run homer.
“It was just the cutter and it was the right pitch but I just left it up,” Jobe said. “At the same time, he's a really good hitter. Just trying to throw a strike there. I hadn't thrown a cutter. He had just seen the bigger slider. Granted, it was pretty middle, but kind of have to tip the cap there that he was ready for it.”
It was the 100th homer that Vargas has hit against the Tigers in 2026 - OK, I kid, it only seems like that. It was actually his sixth of the year against the Tigers, the most of any opposing hitter vs. Detroit (and the most he’s hit against any team this season, while hitting 33 in all games).
“I know that the homer at the end is probably going to leave a bad taste in [Jobe’s] mouth, just because it was a backup spin to Vargas, who's been a real problem for us and for the rest of the league, too,” Hinch said. “I think he threw the ball very, very well and gave us a chance to win. He should be proud of how he threw and the results he got, despite the homer at the end.”
In addition to giving up the homer, Jobe had one other unfortunate moment, although he did it to himself in the first inning: He walked Vargas, who stole second and scored on a soft Munetaka Murakami single – it had a mere 73.7 mph exit velocity while traveling just 243 feet – to left .
“Obviously a timely stolen base where they could bloop a ball in and take the lead,” Hinch said. “There's a lot of pressure on these games for them, and being able to scratch a run across is not usually how they play. They usually wait around for the big home run, and they've got power throughout. Vargas is a big part of that, so he's really improved. He's hitting fastballs, he hits backup spin. You know, we've seen a lot of it.”
Becoming a complete pitcher
The Tigers drafted Jobe with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft. Al Avila, the Tigers' then-general manager, got on a jet and saw him in person in high school, cranking 100 mph fastballs.
But the truly impressive part of Jobe’s performance was how he was able to mix all his pitches, not just relying on his heater. Now he has developed a complete, effective arsenal for the first time this season, for the first time since his elbow trouble. He's still able to throw hard. But now he mixes in other pitches. And that makes him even more effective.
“I thought he did great,” Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler said. “I feel like the mix we had today was really, really good, and I know he really liked it too. So, it was a great outing for him.”
Jobe gave all the credit to Dingler for calling an outstanding game, as he relied more on his breaking stuff.
“Credit Ding,” Jobe said. “I mean, able to get some more strikeouts for sure.”
Dingler has seen Jobe go through tremendous growth this season.
“I see a step forward every single time he goes out there,” Dingler said. “Obviously, not speaking from experience because I've never gone through that, but I'm sure it's tough, both mentally and physically. I feel like he's made tremendous strides since the first time we saw him up here, especially going as deep as he did into that game. It's exciting to watch.”
Despite all the ways to quantify this impressive performance, Jobe didn’t care about his stats after this game.
“We lost – who cares,” he said. “At the same time, for my development moving forward, it's definitely moving in the right direction, especially the last few starts. So that's it's a good thing as far as that goes.”
The last thing to develop after the surgery? His changeup.
“Threw a few good ones today, so that was good to see,” Jobe said. “Just getting a feel for what pitches work best and different situations, and Ding’s doing a great job of identifying that and just trusting him for the most part.”
Now, back to the future – that's the only thing that truly matters now.
As Jobe continues to develop, as he seems to get better and better, not just recovering from a major surgery but now trying to learn to be a big leaguer, able to mix all of his pitches, having a pitcher like this in the rotation going forward, the future starts to look even more encouraging.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Tremendous strides' by RHP Jackson Jobe setting Tigers up for 2027
