Jackson Jobe placed on 15-day IL with right flexor strain

On Friday afternoon, the Detroit Tigers placed rookie starting pitcher Jackson Jobe on the 15-day injured list with a flexor tendon strain in his right elbow. As predicted, reliever Dylan Smith has been promoted from Triple-A Toledo in Jobe’s place. In a surprising twist, the Tigers moved RHP Alex Cobb to the 60-day injured list despite the fact that he’s scheduled to begin a rehab assignment tonight in West Michigan.

Jobe’s start on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants saw his fastball velocity decline markedly throughout the outing. This, as well as the Tigers closing the clubhouse to reporters after the game, sent the rumor mill stirring and this time there was fire to match the smoke.

A grade one flexor tendon strain is the mildest form of the injury, involving stress and slight tearing to the tendon. Often players can simply rest and treat the affected area to control inflammation and then begin rehabilitation within a month. Presumably the Tigers will be pretty cautious with their prized rookie starter and former top prospect, but this is the best case scenario for this type of injury. Still, the timetable will be uncertain until they see how the strain responds to rest.

We won’t call this a blessing in disguise, but Jackson Jobe was never likely to throw a full season for the Tigers. A hamstring strain suffered at the Double-A level about this time last year limited him to 91 ²⁄₃ innings of work in 2024. A typical innings progression would expect him to throw perhaps 130 innings this season. There’s certainly variance there depending on how effective the pitcher is and the amount of stressful innings pitched, but one way or another, Jobe was going to need a break at some point.

If things go well, Jobe can fully rehab the flexor tendon and return at full strength sometime after the All-Star break. That would set him up to be available through October.

Calling up a reliever makes sense for now, and we’re interested to see Smith make his major league debut. As far as the starting rotation goes, the Tigers have Reese Olson looking to return in the next week or so, which will restore them to four of their five starting pitchers. RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long has thrown two rehab starts for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in the past week and looked good doing so. He may only need another outing or two before the Tigers are ready to call him up into the rotation, so the effect of losing Jobe shouldn’t be too painful.

In the meantime, look for Brant Hurter to take another spot start in the rotation in Jobe’s stead on Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox. Or, AJ Hinch and Chris Fetter may have another creative solution in mind and go with more of a full bullpen game depending on the pen’s workload this weekend in Kansas City.