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.
- The Detroit Tigers lost, 8-6, to the New York Yankees on Thursday in Lakeland, Florida.
- Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe allowed three runs (two earned) in 3 2/3 innings.
- Former Yankee Gleyber Torres homered for the Tigers.
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.
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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.”
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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.”
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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.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
