One of the best and most advanced high school pitching prospects in recent years, Dylan Bundy went fourth overall as an Oklahoma prepster in 2011 and reached the Majors 15 months later. Fast forward a decade and the Sooner State has another high school arm whom some scouts say is even better in Jobe. He has one of the quickest arms and the best slider in the Draft, and his other pitches have improved this spring. He won Gatorade's state high school player of the year award after leading Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City) to the Oklahoma 4-A championship and going 9-0 with a 0.13 ERA and 122/5 K/BB ratio in 51 2/3 innings.
Jobe showcases a wipeout slider that sits in the low 80s with elite spin rates above 3,000 rpm, depth and the ability to locate it where he wants. He pitches at 92-94 mph and tops out at 96 with his four-seam fastball, which also features high spin rates and riding action. He has upgraded his low-80s changeup with tumble and will use it against lefties and righties -- some evaluators say it's almost as good as his slider -- and he can give hitters another look with an upper-70s curveball with nice shape.
Jobe repeats his easy delivery and provides plenty of strikes, and his athleticism and efficiency should allow him to remain in the rotation for the long term. He's clearly a pitcher, though he also offers upside as a strong-armed shortstop with bat speed and power potential. He projects as an average hitter with similar speed and might play both ways if he attends college at Mississippi, where he'd be Draft-eligible as a sophomore in 2023.
Detroit bucked recent Draft trends when it selected Jobe third overall in 2021 and signed him for $6.9 million. The Oklahoma native was expected to need time to develop, and that has indeed been the case. He went through an uneven first full season in 2022 and missed out on much of the first half of 2023 with lumbar spine inflammation. Following his return in mid-June, he was as dominant as ever with a 2.81 ERA and an astonishing 84/6 K/BB ratio over 64 innings across four levels, finishing at Double-A Erie. Jobe also made up for the lost time with four impressive starts in the Arizona Fall League.
After throwing more of a dead-zone fastball in high school, the 6-foot-2 right-hander has added more ride to the heater, and he aims for 18 inches of induced vertical break on the 94-97 mph pitch. As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, his 82-85 mph slider remains his best offering, with spin rates regularly above 3,000 rpm and sweeping horizontal movement of 10-17 inches. He added an 88-92 mph cutter for 2023 that gave him a tighter, more controllable look, and his mid-80s changeup improved with more killed spin, making him a tough at-bat for lefties too.
Jobe walked only 2.3 percent of his batters faced during the regular season last summer but that number climbed to 7.5 in the shorter AFL sample. Even with all the repertoire tinkering, his control gains have solidified his standing as one of the best prospect arms in the game. The next goal will be staying on the mound for 100+ innings in a season, at which point Jobe might be already knocking on Detroit’s door.
The Tigers have held four top five Draft picks since 2018, and they used their latest on the only prep pitcher of the group in Jobe -- the third overall selection in 2021. The '21 Gatorade Oklahoma High School Player of the Year was the rawest of that high-pick group, and that showed last year at Single-A Lakeland. Jobe posted a 4.52 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 61 2/3 innings in what is typically a pitcher-friendly Florida State League but flashed his potential by also fanning 26.3 percent of his batters faced. He finished out the year with three High-A starts. Jobe suffered lumbar spine inflammation in Spring Training but returned to the mound in mid-June and has looked his typical dominant self since.
On a stuff level, you can still see what makes Jobe such a promising young righty. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has sat 95-97 mph in shorter stints since his return this year, and that's even up a few ticks from where it was in the FSL a year ago. His plus-plus slider remains his bread-and-butter with low-80s velo, consistent 3,000-plus rpm of spin and plenty of sweeping depth.
A low-80s changeup gives him another potential above-average pitch with sinking action, and he's added a low-90s cutter that plays tighter off the slider. With an athletic delivery, Jobe shouldn’t have control issues moving forward. He needs experience to learn how to best mix his arsenal and time to prove that the back issue is behind him. If it comes together, he has the tools to be a No. 2/3 starter.
Detroit has sported top-five picks in each of the last four Drafts and has gone for high-ceiling types with each one. Jobe very much falls in line with Casey Mize, Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson in that group. The 2021 Gatorade Oklahoma High School Player of the Year was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s top prep pitching prospect (No. 7 overall) last year after going 9-0 with a 0.13 ERA and 122/5 K/BB ratio in 51 2/3 innings and helping Heritage Hall capture a state 4-A title. Detroit went above his pre-Draft ranking to take Jobe at No. 3 overall and gave him a $6.9 million signing bonus, the second-highest of the 2021 Draft.
The slider is easily Jobe’s premium pitch. The offering comes in the low 80s and sports elite spin rates above 3,000 rpm. As if that wasn’t enough, the right-hander can spot the breaking pitch well, making it even tougher. He currently sits at 92-94 mph most days with the four-seam heater, and there have been occasions where he’s thrown more in the mid-90s. A low-80s changeup with plenty of dropping action gives him a third quality pitch -- and one that can be used against batters on both sides of the plate -- while his upper-70s curve provides another look, even if it’s only used to set up the other pitches.
Jobe’s delivery is repeatable and athletic, and throwing strikes shouldn’t be much of a concern on the pro side. There may be some baby steps along the way, but the building blocks are evident in what could make Jobe a future No. 2 starter in Detroit.
One of the best and most advanced high school pitching prospects in recent years, Dylan Bundy went fourth overall as an Oklahoma prepster in 2011 and reached the Majors 15 months later. Fast forward a decade, and the Sooner State produced another high school arm whom some scouts said is even better in Jobe. He possessed one of the quickest arms and the best slider in the 2021 Draft, and his other pitches improved this spring. He won Gatorade's state high school player of the year award after leading Heritage Hall (Oklahoma City) to the Oklahoma 4-A championship and going 9-0 with a 0.13 ERA and 122/5 K/BB ratio in 51 2/3 innings. Detroit was so enthused about Jobe’s ceiling that it took him third overall in July and signed him for $6.9 million, the second-highest bonus of this year’s Draft.
Jobe showcases a wipeout slider that sits in the low 80s with elite spin rates above 3,000 rpm, depth and the ability to locate it where he wants. He pitches at 92-94 mph and tops out at 96 with his four-seam fastball, which also features high spin rates and riding action. He has upgraded his low-80s changeup with tumble and will use it against lefties and righties -- some evaluators say it's almost as good as his slider -- and he can give hitters another look with an upper-70s curveball with nice shape.
Jobe repeats his easy delivery and provides plenty of strikes, and his athleticism and efficiency should allow him to remain in the rotation for the long term. The Tigers’ farm system once revolved around high-end pitchers like Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning, and even after all three have graduated to the Majors, Jobe is very much in position to continue their tradition in the pipeline.
How this works:
This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement.
On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown.
Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release.
On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
Team
Avg HR Trot
Actual HR
xHR
HR-xHR
Doubters
Mostly Gone
No Doubters
No Doubter %
2024
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0
0.1
0
1
0
0
--
Player
--
0
0.1
0
1
0
0
--
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2024
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Player
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's home runs allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift:
three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of
their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about
how positioning is defined here