Jackson Jobe is eager for his first big-league victory.
The right-hander’s next chance to achieve the milestone will come Saturday afternoon when his Detroit Tigers take on the Minnesota Twins in the second contest of a three-game series in Minneapolis.
Detroit is coming off a 7-6 win in the series opener on Friday night. The victory marked the Tigers’ eighth win in their past 10 games and improved their standing atop the American League Central.
Next comes the third start of the season for Jobe (0-0, 5.00 ERA), who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City.
Jobe, 22, allowed three runs in four innings in his season debut against the Seattle Mariners on March 31, when the Tigers won 9-6. Six days later, he faced the Chicago White Sox and finished with a no-decision after allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings. Detroit won 4-3.
In his first two starts, Jobe has walked seven and struck out seven. He will look to improve his command when he faces the Twins.
This will be Jobe’s first appearance versus Minnesota in his brief career.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Chris Paddack (0-1, 14.73 ERA), who will try to bounce back from a rough start to the season in his third start.
Paddack, 29, gave up nine runs — including three homers — in 3 1/3 innings in his season debut against the White Sox on March 31. The Twins lost 9-0. He fared better but still encountered challenges in his second start, as he gave up four runs (three earned) in four innings against the Houston Astros on Sunday. The Twins lost 9-7 in 10 innings.
Paddack has started against Detroit only once in his career, in 2022. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and limited Tigers hitters to one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out six.
The Tigers likely will give a day off to infielder Gleyber Torres, who rejoined the team Friday after missing time because of an oblique muscle injury. Torres went 2-for-4 with a walk as Detroit’s leadoff hitter.
Manager A.J. Hinch said he looked forward to integrating Torres into the lineup.
“It’s just a puzzle to put together every day to try to win that game,” Hinch said. “So it’s a good problem to have.”
However, Hinch said, Torres likely will sit on Saturday against the Twins.
“It’s a quick turnaround (Saturday),” Hinch said. “I’ve told him that he’s not going to start (Saturday) and we’ll see if he’s available off the bench as we just need to ease the workload, given that he didn’t go on rehab. We’re just going to be a little cautious with the first few days.”
Meanwhile, the Twins are looking for a spark after losing 10 of their first 14 games.
“We can’t walk guys and think they’re not going to score some runs,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “And we’ve got to play crisper in the field.
“We’ve got to play better fundamental baseball, and it can’t come and go. It’s not one culprit. We have to do better as a group.”
–Field Level Media
