The Detroit Tigers could be getting a massive boost to their pitching staff at some point during the 2026 season.
According to Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, Detroit expects former top prospect and widely hyped rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe to return to the rotation at some point during the 2026 season.
Harris told media this week as relayed by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press at the winter meetings that he expected Jobe to be back this season despite undergoing Tommy John surgery after just 10 starts in his rookie season.
While the expectation from many was that Jobe may miss all of 2026 while he recovers and come back to start the 2027 season, Harris and manager A.J. Hinch shut this notion down.
Tigers Seem Confident Jobe Returns This Season
“We expect him to be back in 2026,” Harris said. “It’s hard to forecast the actual date, but we expect it to be a boost for our roster in the second half.”
Hinch weighed in as well with a dose of reality which expressed his disappointment that he won’t have the young flamethrower back for the start of the season but excitement to see him get back on the mound.
“I would rather him pitch the entire season, but it’s nice to have a boost in a rotation typically at the time where you need to fill out a rotation due to injuries and underperformance and all those things that happen,” Hinch said. “If there is a blessing in it, it’s that.”
Hinch is certainly correct in talking about getting production from Jobe in a time of the season where rotations thin out, and Detroit was perhaps the biggest example of this. Losing Reese Olson for the season in addition to Jobe, Hinch had to scramble to put it all together. By all accounts though, things are looking up with Olson and now with Jobe as well.
Jobe had a 4.22 ERA and 1.490 WHIP with a record of 4-1 over 10 starts in 2025.
What Can Tigers Realistically Expect from Jobe in 2026?
It’s still not a guarantee Jobe actually does return to this rotation this year, and if he were to suffer any kind of setback in his recovery he still could be shut down. At just 23 years old though, expecting a quick and seamless recovery for the youngster does not seem unrealistic.
As for what he can actually contribute to the team in the 2026 season, that’s a little bit more of a question mark.
Detroit is not going to rush such a highly touted prospect along in his recovery and risk his long-term development, but it seems Jobe has a real chance to be activated sometime over the summer, potentially right around the time of the trade deadline.
This would likely impact the strategy for Harris and the front office at that point depending on where the Tigers are in the standings, and Jobe could be used in a variety of roles.
A temporary move to the bullpen if it’s more of a need could be in the cards, as could using Jobe as an opener as he ramps up his innings. Expecting more than 40 or 50 innings this year is probably not realistic, and Jobe’s repaired elbow will have to demonstrate it can hold up.
If it can though, Detroit has a chance to get an absolutely massive summer boost in the young righty, and fans should be extremely excited about it.
