Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe torched by Yankees in 8-6 loss in spring training
Jason Benetti on his iconic call during Detroit Tigers’ 2024 run
Jason Benetti, TV voice of the Detroit Tigers, breaks down the emotions and behind the scenes elements that helped lead to his memorable call.
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost, 8-6, to the New York Yankees on Thursday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Detroit is 9-9 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
Right-hander Jackson Jobe is extremely confident in his abilities as a starting pitcher, as he revealed after his last start by making a bold statement: “Here’s my stuff. If you hit it, great. Odds are, you’re probably not.”
On Thursday, the New York Yankees hit his stuff.
They hit it hard.
The 22-year-old allowed three runs (two earned runs) on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts across 3⅔ innings, throwing 41 of 68 pitches for strikes. The Yankees averaged a 95.5 mph exit velocity on 11 balls in play, including eight balls in play that had at least a 100 mph exit velocity.
“I just gave up a couple homers,” Jobe said. “That’s all it is. I mean, it happens.”
The damage occurred in the fourth inning, when Jasson Domínguez pulled a middle-down 86.5 mph changeup for a two-run home run to right field and Paul Goldschmidt destroyed a middle-middle 96.6 mph sinker for a solo homer over the batter’s eye in center field.
Before Domínguez’s homer, Javier Báez — playing third base for the first time since 2019 — made a fielding error that allowed the leadoff hitter to reach safely.
The homer from Goldschmidt traveled 447 feet.
“Fastball command wasn’t great,” Jobe said, “but the pitches that they hit out of the yard were, I thought, decent pitches. Those are good hitters. Tip your cap.”
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Starting off
Not only did Jobe allow hard contact, but he also failed to miss bats at even an average clip.
Despite elite individual pitches, he generated just three misses on 28 swings — for a 10.7% whiff rate — with one fastball, one sinker and one sweeper. He has a 17.1% whiff rate in spring training, which is a little bit concerning because MLB pitchers averaged a 25.6% whiff rate from 2022-24.
Facing the Yankees, Jobe struggled to located his four-seam fastball.
“I think I threw a lot of uncompetitive fastballs, whether it was up or arm side,” said Jobe, whose fastball averaged 97.5 mph. “That’s something I’ll work on. Being able to get the heater down and follow up with offspeed down, I think that helps me. It all starts with the fastball.”
This spring, Jobe has a 3.65 ERA with four walks and eight strikeouts across 12⅓ innings in four starts. Although he is expected to make the Opening Day rotation, the Tigers haven’t guaranteed anything to him yet.
At the plate
The Tigers faced Yankees left-hander Max Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218 million free agent contract in the offseason — the largest contract ever for a southpaw. He allowed one run on one hit and zero walks with three strikeouts across four innings, throwing 57 pitches.
In the first inning, ex-Yankee Gleyber Torres — who signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Tigers this offseason — hit a solo home run off Fried’s 93.6 mph fastball.
It was Torres’ third homer of spring training.
The Tigers added one run in the fifth inning and two runs in the sixth inning. In the fifth, Colt Keith and Báez hit back-to-back doubles against right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz, with Báez ripping Cruz’s 93.5 mph sinker with a 109.3 mph exit velocity.
Both Torres and Keith had two-hit performances.
The Tigers tacked on two final runs in the bottom of the ninth as Yankees relievers Yerry De Los Santos and Hayden Merda had issues finding the strike zone; they issued four straight two-out walks (to Ryan Kreidler, Bligh Madris, Andrew Navigato and Roberto Campos) before Jace Jung flew out to end the game.
On the mound
After Jobe, the Tigers relievers struggled.
Left-hander Andrew Chafin allowed four runs on three hits and two walks with one strikeout in the fifth inning, throwing 26 pitches. His sinker velocity averaged less than 89 mph, down from last year’s 91.7 mph average.
This spring, Chafin has given up six runs on three hits and five walks in three relief appearances.
Right-hander Tommy Kahnle, a former Yankee, failed to complete the sixth inning, with one hit and two walks despite getting just two outs while exhausting 26 pitches. In the seventh, right-hander John Brebbia gave up one run but recorded three outs.
Three stars
1. Torres; 2. Keith; 3. Báez.
Next up
Friday (1:05 p.m., no TV) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Chickens and geese that went missing from a local nonprofit’s Detroit site were found in the backyard of a nearby home, the director of operations said Wednesday.
The Full Circle Foundation, a Grosse Point Park-based nonprofit, said more than a dozen chickens and geese were believed stolen from a chicken coop on Detroit’s east side that also features the Full Circle Edible Garden.
The nonprofit provides training and job opportunities for young people with special needs.
Neighbors who learned from news reports about the missing flock found the “chickens were being held in the backyard of a vacant home not far from the Full Circle Edible Garden,” said Stephanie DiVirgil, director of operations. She said Ribbon Farm 4-H owns the flock.
“The homeowner was contacted, and she reached out to Full Circle to confirm,” said DiVirgil. “We were able to retrieve all of the chickens and geese that were found on the property, 19 in total.”
The foundation and Ribbon Farms 4-H are working to secure the site, including cameras, fencing and lights.
“We will likely start a fundraising campaign to have these items installed,” DiVirgil said. “We’ve gotten amazing support from the community, including offers to help pay for these additional security measures.”
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Human remains were found in a furnace of an home on Detroit’s west side, the Detroit Police Department tells us.
The remains was found by an individual working on the home in the 5200 block of S Clarendon just after 11 a.m.
Anyone with information can call 313-596-2260 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SpeakUp.
Stay with WXYZ.com for updates on this developing story.
The Detroit Police Department is investigating after a 5-year-old child was shot in the arm near a park on Tuesday.
The shooting happened at about 8:50 p.m. near the Fargo-Oaklfield Playground on the city’s west side. Police Chief Todd Bettison says the child was in front of his home riding a bike with his father supervising at the time of the shooting.
Bettison says an individual at the park fired multiple shots, striking the child. He says the boy’s father reported hearing shots and the child falling from his bike.
Bettison says the child is expected to be OK.
Bettison says the person appears to have been firing shots randomly, which he calls “problematic.” He says a person of interest is described as possibly between 15 and 16 years old and wearing a mask. He says the person is known to frequent the area.
“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must go down,” Bettison said. “To parents and everyone, know where your kids are. Juveniles should not have guns, and whether you’re an adult or a child, you should not be firing a weapon inside of the city limits.”
Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield released a statement, saying in part, “By the grace of God, this young boy will recover from his injury and is on his way home from the hospital. With that said, this incident was senseless and could have had a much more tragic ending.
“Every child in Detroit deserves to feel safe riding their bike, playing outside, and simply being a child in their own neighborhood. We cannot accept a reality where our children are placed in harm’s way because someone chose to recklessly fire a gun.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.
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