Jackson Jobe completes the Tigers' victory in his MLB debut, to the delight of fans

Detroit ― The Tigers were prepared for this and had a hype video in the can. The fans were prepared for this and chanted “We want Jobe” in the late innings as he warmed up in the bullpen.

And, most importantly, Jackson Jobe, the game’s most promising pitcher, was ready for this moment, this highly anticipated major league debut that is now officially complete: He tossed a scoreless ninth inning at raucous Comercia Park on Wednesday night to cap a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that moved the Tigers closer to an incredible playoff berth.

Jobe, the Tigers’ first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in 2021, needed nine pitches to get through the ninth inning, working around a one-out single, a day after being surprisingly called up in the middle of Detroit’s final playoff push.

“I mean, it was crazy,” said Jobe, his long hair still soaked from the postgame shower. “I don’t think I’ve fully grasped it yet. It would be difficult to express it better, given the crowd size and the position this team is in.”

“It was pretty cool. It was definitely pretty cool.”

The Tigers, who were given up less than two months ago, have jumped back into the race and secured a wildcard spot thanks to a school bus full of kids, so why not get another one?

That’s what President Scott Harris, manager AJ Hinch and CEO Christiopher Ilitch decided Sunday night when the Tigers returned from Baltimore. Jobe’s season at Triple-A Toledo was over, but his season, as it turned out, was not.

The Tigers want to have all kinds of weapons in place for what may come, and Jobe is just that: another weapon who will play out of the bullpen for as long as the Tigers see fit — likely into the postseason, should Detroit hold out. He is postseason eligible and could bring back memories of similar late-season call-ups in years past, like Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels in 2002 and David Price of the Rays in 2008.

Hinch was eager to give Jobe his debut during this Rays series, but Hinch also needs to win these games. Nothing is over yet, even if Fangraphs now has the Tigers’ odds at 91.1%. The magic number is fading, but it’s not zero. Jobe warmed up next to closer Jason Foley in the eighth inning when Detroit had a four-run lead. The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a six-run lead, making the decision easier for Hinch to call up Jobe, who had 23 family and friends in attendance in Section 128, just behind home plate.

“You can’t be perfect in situations like this, but you want there to be a perfect scenario for it, and we were able to get this close to welcoming him to the major leagues,” said Hinch, whose Tigers (84-74) are 10 games over .500 for the first time since 2016. “He’ll go home tonight feeling like he accomplished something he’s only dreamed of until now.”

“Everyone should be proud not only of Jackson’s achievement, but also that our city welcomes him.

“That was pretty incredible.”

More: Paul: Al Avila’s rebuild finally takes shape two years after being fired by the Tigers

In the eighth inning, when the Tigers made the runs Hinch wanted to put Jobe in a less precarious situation, the 32,463 spectators – the team’s largest crowd on a September weekday since 2015 – began chanting.

And as the Tigers closed out the eighth inning, cameras showed Jobe strolling toward the bullpen exit while a highlight reel of Jobe’s rapid rise through the minor leagues played on the giant video board behind him.

Parker Meadows in midfield said: “I got goosebumps.”

Jobe, interestingly, was not. He said he was more nervous before the call than he was on the mound. He said he was more nervous in his spring training appearance this year, when he hit 100, than he was on Wednesday.

Of course, the thunderous support of the playoff-happy crowd didn’t hurt.

“Yeah, they convinced me pretty quickly. They did,” said Jobe with a big smile. “That was great. That was great. I want to do that again. Every time.”

Jobe brought the heat from his first pitch, 96 to Christopher Morel. Then 96 again. Then a 91-mph cutter. Then a 99-mph fastball, his hottest heat of the night. After a great changeup, he got Morel to ground out to third.

Jobe then needed just three more pitches to get out of the inning, a 99 mph fastball that Ben Rortvedt hit to center for a single. Jose Caballero was grounded after an 86 mph cutter. And Richie Palacios flew a 98 mph fastball to center to end the game. Thus began the celebration, one of the loudest this season at Comerica Park, as the Tigers remained two games ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card race with four games of the regular season remaining.

Nowhere was the celebration more exuberant than in the family and friends section, where father Brandt, a former PGA Tour golfer, and mother Jennifer sat with Jobe’s sister, her fiancé, his girlfriend and several buddies from his native Oklahoma. Two of his buddies already had white Jobe home jerseys, perhaps the only two in the stadium that didn’t belong to Jackson himself.

“It’s special. I mean, without them I wouldn’t be here, there’s no doubt about it,” said Jobe, who has pitched at Triple-A, Double-A Erie and High-A West Michigan this season. “I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time, and it’s finally here.”

“We’ll just build on that and hopefully get into bigger and better situations as we go along.”

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Jackson Jobe completes the Tigers’ victory in his MLB debut, to the delight of fans

ByJasper

By Jasper

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