As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Knees are weak and the Tigers arms are hopefully not heavy after a long offseason of rest from Pitching Chaos. The Tigers made the postseason after a long absence from it. Many of the Tigers' cores that got them to the Promiseland are from clever drafting and trades made by a previous regime. The Tigers boast one of the healthier farm systems in baseball, headlined by the games best pitching prospect in Jackson Jobe. Their top 3 prospects come from what is a successful 2023 draft where they were able to get two prospects in Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, both of whom project to be at least above-average regulars, albeit by doing it in slightly different ways. The Tigers were sellers at the deadline, adding Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney in a trade, and while Trey Sweeney has a chance to establish himself as the Tiger's Opening Day shortstop, Liranzo provides a level of offensive punch not seen from any of the organs catchers, especially since Briceño is no longer a catcher. The system has become one that pitchers have taken the next step in, like Jaden Hamm and Troy Melton, which curtails nicely for young arms like Owen Hall and Ethan Schiefelbein and some of the other arms the Tigers drafted in 2024. Bryce Rainer has fanbase, hoping he is the shortstop of the future, as you hardly find left-handed hitting shortstops like this. All in all, the Tigers are in a great spot as they hope to prove that 2024 wasn't a fluke, and could see a turnover on this list at the midway part of the year as a large portion of these prospects have a chance to graduate off this list.
About Our Top 20 Lists
Prospects Live, led by its evaluating team & Director of Scouting Rhys White, is proud to begin rolling out its annual offseason system reports. The team combines industry feedback, our live looks, film, and available data to compile each org. We believe this effort has enabled us to present you, the reader, with our best possible view of the prospects in the organization.
We have constructed this list using the Overall Future Potential (OFP) scale. There is no perfect equation for ranking prospects or assigning value to them, but we believe this method is the best possible approach. Every prospect on this list has been graded based on the tried and true 20-80 scouting scale. An 80 is the highest tool and OFP grade on the scale, reserved for MVP-caliber players or tools. Conversely, a 20 is reserved for non-prospects (NPs). A 50 OFP falls in the middle, indicating our evaluators deem this player a future average major league player. Below the 50 OFP tier are the 45s and 40s, comprising a large majority of players on each list. These are specific-role players, such as platoon hitters, utility players, or low-leverage relievers. Above the 50 OFP tier are the 55s and 60s. A 55 represents a future above-average player, and a 60 OFP designation is reserved for future All-Star caliber players.
In addition to the tool grades and OFP, we will also include a 'Risk' associated with each prospect. We use this to better communicate to you, the reader, whether a grade is more aggressive or conservative in nature. The evaluation team has worked hard to apply both the grades and risk components to better illustrate how each individual prospect stacks up in their respective system and in the baseball ecosystem.
Evaluators: Rhys White, Matt Thompson, Tyler Jennings, Alex Kempton, Tyler Paddor, Trevor Hooth, Brandon Williams
Jackson Jobe has made it to the majors, and given the landscape of what it is like to be a pitching prospect, this should be considered a slight win by the Tigers and Jackson Jobe. Jackson Jobe is on the shortlist of best pitching prospect in the entire game because of good command and outlier stuff. He releases the ball from a five foot 8 inches release point, and that allows all of his stuff to play up. He repeats his delivery well, and this, along with his stuff, has given him such a high floor. The fastball comfortably sits in the mid-90s, but as you saw in his brief major league stint when he is ramped up, the fastball can be revved up to 99. There is a chance he is hitting triple-digits in starts at some point in his career. His fastball plays up from his lower-release point with 12 inches of drop; it has the characteristics to play in the zone while also getting whiffs up and out. The slider is a hard mid-80s offering with plenty of sweep. It has a real putaway pitch against right-handed and left-handed batters; with nearly 30 inches of drop, the sweeper is a good late-in-count weapon for the young right-handed pitching prospect. The cutter offers plenty of weak contact because of its "bullet" shape and 28 inches of drop, causing batters to swing over the top of the ball and, in turn, inducing weak contact. It has a chance to be a real bat-misser with a few tweaks to his sequencing. The changeup is also a weapon, albeit not utilized as much as one would want in his brief stint in the majors. Jobe's big issue is that despite having stuff you would build in a pitching lab, he does not put away as many batters as you would want. The "problem" as currently constructed isn't the stuff because he has four 60s or better pitches, with above-average command of all of those pitches, but it is indeed a sequencing issue. He could stand to utilize his cutter later in counts to right-handed batters, which he started to do late in the season, and experiment with the changeup against left-handed batters to try and put them away. The stuff is crazy, and Jackson Jobe is healthy, but he will exhaust prospect eligibility by mid-season at the latest. We could do it if he can get his sequencing dialed in more. Jackson Jobe has a good rookie season in 2025 and would presumably be one of the favorites for the AL RoY award while being on the shortlist for the best prospect in baseball when we release our top 100 list. - Rhys White
FANTASY SPIN
Arguably the top pitcher in our prospect rankings, Jobe has massive potential and the type of body that can withstand the rigors of a starting pitcher in today’s game. Pair that with his home park and the belief that the strikeouts will come with experience. You’re looking at a potential top-ten arm in the majors in short order. A fair comp will be the Pittsburgh Pirates version of Gerrit Cole for the time being. - Ryan Epperson
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
