Detroit Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe, set for the seventh outing of his major league career, will be the more experienced starter on the mound when he faces the host Houston Astros on Wednesday afternoon.
The Astros are calling up their top pitching prospect, right-hander AJ Blubaugh, for his major league debut as they shoot for a three-game series sweep.
Blubaugh went 2-2 with 3.86 ERA in five games (four starts) for Triple-A Sugar Land this season, recording 28 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21 innings.
The 24-year-old Ohio native was a seventh-round pick out of Wisconsin-Milwaukee by the Astros in the 2022 draft. He has recorded 297 strikeouts and 112 walks over 268 1/3 innings in 65 appearances (44 starts) in the minors.
Blubaugh will start in place of right-hander Hayden Wesneski, who is getting extra rest between outings.
“We’re going to give him a couple of more days to recover from his last start,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Wesneski, who is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA through five starts. “Yes, he’s healthy. …
“I just want to make sure he plays catch, recovers well and I’ll make a decision on (whether he starts this weekend vs. the White Sox in Chicago).”
Wesneski has lasted at least five innings in each of starts for the Astros, who acquired him as part of the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in December. Most recently, he threw a season-low 80 pitches while tossing five-plus innings of two-run ball in a 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Jobe (2-0, 2.70 ERA) earned his second consecutive winning decision on April 18 against the Royals, allowing one run on five hits over five innings, but he hasn’t pitched since. That outing followed a 4-0 road win over the Minnesota Twins on April 12, when Jobe worked six scoreless innings. He made his major league debut on Sept. 25, 2024, and appeared twice as a reliever for the Tigers that month.
Jobe will be making his first career regular-season appearance against the Astros. He faced Houston in Game 2 of the 2024 American League wild-card series and surrendered two runs on two hits while recording one out in a no-decision during the Tigers’ 5-2, series-clinching win.
As the organization’s top pitching prospect, the Tigers are exercising caution in utilizing Jobe. However, the time between his starts was extended a bit beyond what they considered ideal.
“He’s more than ready to go,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Poor guy, he’s been waiting and waiting and waiting. The best-laid plans were we loved the fact that we were going to get him extra rest. We didn’t know or intend for it to be this long. He will be eager for the day game. Day game after a night game has its own challenges. It will not be a challenge for Jackson.
“The work (between starts) is great. But I think the routine part of the season and the rhythm and being able to be in competition is important. That’s the one downside. He hasn’t competed in 10 to 12 days. It doesn’t mean it’s not an issue, but it will be fine once he gets back in rhythm.”
–Field Level Media
