The Tiger Beat: Bad news for the rotation

So long for 2025, Jackson Jobe, we hardly knew thee.

We knew things weren’t likely to be good when Jackson Jobe was placed on the IL. The Tigers and their fans are no strangers to dire news when it comes to their starting pitchers (remember Alex Cobb? no?), but no one wanted to hear the dreaded “Tommy John” when it came to one of the Tigers’ most exciting rookie players.

Alas, that is the situation we find ourselves in. You can read more about that in Brandon’s article from yesterday .

To soften the blow of that bad news, we do have a little extra fun stuff in today’s news. Including the most surprising photo of a Pope I’ve ever seen, and some genuinely exciting bat dog news!

Let’s get right into it.

Detroit Tigers News:

• Obviously the biggest news out of yesterday is the worst, as we learned that Jackson Jobe will undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2025 season.

• It’s The Athletic’s anonymous player survey time , and Tarik Skubal garnered a lot of attention in the categories of players that other players enjoy watching, and pitchers that batters would not want to face in the World Series. Here’s what fellow players had to say about Skubal:

“In my opinion, he has a decent lead over anybody else. His fastball is so good, and last year he made a real effort to throw other pitches and keep hitters off-balance. The fastball sets up the changeup, and it just gets on you so quick. The hitters are so uncomfortable.”

“He’s nasty for everybody. Everything’s really hard, his changeup’s really good. Hard to pick up. Everything’s kind of funky coming out of all of the stuff he does.”

“I hit better from the left side, and he feels so challenging hitting from the left side. He might be the best pitcher in the game.”

AL Central News:

• Can’t say this was on my 2025 bingo card…

• Lest you think that might be AI or Photoshop, here’s an article with some additional details .
• Huh, didn’t think the Royals needed government intervention to stay in Missouri…

• Jose Ramirez had a unique reaction to being hit by a pitch .

MLB News:

• While previously adamant that he would never pitch out of the bullpen, Marcus Stroman is starting to change his tune .
• Laz Diaz continues to make a strong case for robot umpires.
• Speaking of robot umpires, how do players really feel about them? ($)
• Players are opening up about the new reality of fan interactions thanks to sports betting, and it’s… very bad . ($)
• Terry Francona is everyone’s favorite manager (who isn’t their own).

• MLB BAT DOGS?!?! OKAY!