Arizona Fall League Prospect Report: Jackson Jobe Shines In Debut

Image credit: RHP Jackson Jobe (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—In his second full season as a professional, Tigers righthander Jackson Jobe was limited to just 64 innings thanks to a back injury that delayed his 2023 debut until June 17, when he made a tune-up start in the Florida Complex League.

From there, he quickly shot from Low-A to Double-A by season’s end, including turns in the playoffs for the Eastern League champion Erie SeaWolves. At each stop, the righthander overpowered hitters with an arsenal that combines both power and spin.

He finished the year with an overall 70% strike rate, including 54 walks against just three walks in 40 High-A innings. Jobe’s command and control weren’t as pinpoint as usual in his AFL debut—he threw 31 of his 55 pitches for strikes—but he still spun four shutout innings with two hits, two walks and four strikeouts for Salt River on the league’s Opening Day.

Throughout the evening, Jobe, whom Detroit popped in the first round of the 2021 draft out of high school in Oklahoma, used a four-pitch mix that showed flashes of dominance.

The full repertoire included a four-seam fastball that averaged 96 mph and peaked at 98 and also included a nasty cutter in the low-90s, a sweepy slider in the mid 80s with an average spin rate of more than 3,000 rpm and a mid-80s changeup.

Jobe got nine swings and misses—three apiece on the four-seam fastball and slider, two on the changeup and one of the cutter—good for a 16.3% whiff rate. All four of Jobe’s strikeouts were finished by swings and misses.

Jobe also did a good job inducing weak contact, getting five grounders against just two flyouts. Arguably the biggest mistake he made came in the fourth inning, when he allowed a ringing double to White Sox prospect Bryan Ramos on a poorly located fastball just a pitch after getting Ramos to wave through two consecutive sliders.

Even though he didn’t display the same precision as he did during the regular season—and the tighter strike zone in play thanks to the automatic ball-strike challenge system at Salt River Fields might have been a factor—Jobe’s first turn in the AFL contained plenty of moments when it was easy to see why his ceiling is so high.

OTHER PROSPECTS OF NOTE

Oakland’s 2021 first-rounder, shortstop Max Muncy, opened his AFL campaign in a big way. Against Surprise, the California prep product went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and a stolen base. The 21-year-old split the regular season between High-A Lansing and Double-A Midland, hitting a combined .275/.353/.411 with 35 doubles and 10 home runs.

Brewers prospect and 2023 Southern League home run champion Wes Clarke clubbed his first AFL home run, going deep off Yankees farmhand Noelberto Henriquez in Surprise’s win over Mesa. The South Carolina alum hit 26 longballs for Biloxi in the regular year.

Guardians prospect Chase DeLauter opened his AFL season in a big way, slamming a home run in the third inning of Peoria’s lid-lifter against Scottsdale. The James Madison alum missed a chunk of the season with a broken foot but still impressed enough to work his way onto BA’s Top 100 prospects. He finished the day 2-for-4 with five RBIs and a stolen base.

Giants lefty Jack Choate has one of the more intriguing fastballs in the AFL, and he got his campaign off to a strong start with four strikeouts in two shutout innings for his Scottsdale club. The 6-foot-6 Assumption product struck out 87 hitters in 68 innings in the regular season, which he split between Low-A San Jose and High-A Eugene.

Arizona Fall League Tuesday Probable Starters

Tuesday’s AFL pitching matchups
Mesa at Salt River — Peter Van Loon (Orioles) vs. Dylan Smith (Tigers)
Glendale at Scottsdale — Jake Eder (White Sox) vs. Tekoah Roby (Cardinals)
Peoria at Surprise — Logan Workman (Rays) vs. Ricky Tiedemann (Blue Jays)

HITTERS

Player	Team	ORG	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	NOTES
Bowens, TT	MSS	BAL	4	2	2	1	1	2	.500	.600	.750	2B
Cook, Billy	MSS	BAL	4	1	1	0	1	3	.250	.400	.500	2B
Rhodes, John	MSS	BAL	5	2	2	0	0	0	.400	.400	.600	2B
DeLauter, Chase	PEJ	CLE	4	2	2	5	1	1	.500	.500	1.250	HR, SB
Burke, Jacob	GDD	CWS	4	0	1	0	0	2	.250	.250	.500	2B
DiChiara, Sonny	SCO	LAA	5	1	1	3	0	2	.200	.200	.800	HR, SB
Placencia, Adrian	SCO	LAA	5	1	2	2	0	1	.400	.400	.600	2B
Brown Jr., Eric	SUR	MIL	5	2	2	2	0	1	.400	.400	.800	3B
Clarke, Wes	SUR	MIL	5	3	3	4	0	1	.600	.600	1.600	3B, HR
Sabato, Aaron	GDD	MIN	4	1	1	1	0	1	.250	.250	1.000	HR, SB
Muncy, Max	MSS	OAK	5	2	4	2	0	1	.800	.800	1.600	2B, HR, SB
Rincones Jr., Gabriel	SCO	PHI	4	1	2	0	1	2	.500	.600	.750	2B
Bowen, Jase	SRR	PIT	4	0	2	0	0	0	.500	.500	.750	2B
Marsee, Jakob	PEJ	SDP	3	1	2	0	1	0	.667	.750	1.000	2B, 2 SB
Pauley, Graham	PEJ	SDP	2	1	2	1	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000	SB
Bliss, Ryan	PEJ	SEA	3	2	2	1	2	0	.667	.800	1.000	2B, SB, CS
Morgan, Zach	SCO	SFG	4	2	3	2	1	1	.750	.800	.750
Keegan, Dominic	PEJ	TBR	5	0	2	2	0	2	.400	.400	.400
Hicks, Liam	SUR	TEX	4	1	2	2	1	0	.500	.600	.750	2B
Palmegiani, Damiano	SUR	TOR	4	2	3	1	1	0	.750	.800	1.000	2B

PITCHERS

Player	Team	ORG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Notes
Penrod, Zach	GDD	BOS	4	3	1	1	0	3	4	2.25	L
Mejia, Juan	SRR	COL	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	4	0.00
Flores, Wilmer	SRR	DET	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
Jobe, Jackson	SRR	DET	4	2	0	0	0	2	4	0.00	W
McCambley, Zach	PEJ	MIA	2	2	2	1	0	1	4	4.50
Salinas, Royber	MSS	OAK	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0.00
Nett, Braden	PEJ	SDP	4	3	0	0	0	2	6	0.00
Choate, Jack	SCO	SFG	2	1	0	0	0	1	4	0.00
Lonsway, Seth	SCO	SFG	2	5	3	3	1	1	1	13.50
Wicklander, Patrick	PEJ	TBR	2.1	5	4	4	0	1	3	15.43
Kent, Zak	SUR	TEX	3	4	2	2	1	0	4	6.00
Teodo, Emiliano	SUR	TEX	2	1	0	0	0	0	4	0.00	W
Powell, Holden	SCO	WAS	2	1	2	1	0	1	1	4.50