While it’s going to take time to see if the Detroit Tigers prep pitching strategy ultimately pays off, they’ve managed to balance out their risk with some successes with college pitchers. They’ll be hopiong left-hander Ben Jacobs out of Arizona State will be the next.
The Tigers selected the 6’1” 195 pound southpaw in the third round of the 2025 draft. They signed him for roughly $60,0000 under slot value at $722,500, and as they’ve typically saved money with college players, paying so close to slot value says
they really liked Ben Jacobs at 98th overall.
Jacobs played his high school ball for Huntington Beach HS, a notable long-tiem prep powerhouse. He pitched for UCLA in his freshman year before transferring to Arizona State for his sophomore and junior seasons, where he became their Friday night starter. In 2024, between those seasons, he pitched in the Cape Cod League and for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, so he’s been well known to scouts for a long time.
After a very good college career, one might expect Jacobs to go in the first or second round, but he just doesn’t have that one monster pitch teams can dream on. He was closer to late first, early second round levels on draft boards after his sophomore season, but regressed a little at times throughout his junior year. He throws strikes, and he has three average pitches that flash plus. He’ll need to refine them in pro ball to push his ceiling higher than backend starter projections.
His fourseam fastball is typically around 93 mph, and he had some stretches his junior year where it was down a little bit further. However, he’s also shown some bursts where he’s reaching back for 95 mph. The fourseamer had good riding life his sophomore year and is aided by pretty good extension, but that movement wasn’t as consistent in his junior year, which was another part of him slipping a bit into the late third round. His primary breaking ball is a low 80’s slider and he shows feel for both a harder version with late gloveside break and a softer, slurvier version to steal strikes. His changeup is typically 82-84 mph with good fade but pretty average depth. Both offeringa got whiffs for him in college and give him weapons to handle either-handed hitters. Overall he’s a good strike thrower who needs a little more precision and consistency as he develops. Nothing unusual there, and Jacobs has already shown himself capable of managing all that for stretches in his college career.
Jacobs has a pretty prototypical delivery and generally repeats it well. He usually lands closed to the plate, and will sometimes lose his landing spot and start rolling off his lead foot to get back on his target. His lead leg blocking and lower half strength and balance could use some work, but those are things the Tigers are pretty good at correcting. If he can clean that up he should hold 94 mph more consistently with more consistently good ride on the fourseamer. If the slider and changeup keep their shapes but are thrown a little harder, that’s all enough to make him a solid 4/5 starter, and if his command really improves, perhaps even a regular mid-rotation arm. If he falls a little short he’ll fall more in the swingman category.
Jacobs is not super projectable in terms of his physique, but his best is already near good enough for the major leagues. If he can build himself up to produce his best stuff and command consistently, he develop into a solid starting pitcher. He threw 83 2/3 innings in his junior year, and the Tigers would like to see him get to 100 innings and graduate through Single-A by the end of his 2026 pro debut. He’s advanced enough that he shouldn’t spend long in extended spring training, nor the Complex League. If conditioning and minor adjustments to his delivery click for him this year, he’ll move pretty quickly into the upper levels as an advanced lefty.
