DETROIT, MI – The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms on Friday with a pair of top picks in the 2021 MLB Draft: righthanded pitcher Jackson Jobe, the No. 3 overall pick, and second round selection shortstop Izaac Pacheco.
Jobe joins the Tigers organization following four years at Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City, OK. He recently completed a dominant senior season with the Chargers, posting a 9-0 record and 0.13 ERA over 51.2 innings, striking out 122 batters, walking just five, and throwing multiple no-hitters. Following the 2021 season, Jobe was named Oklahoma’s Gatorade Player of the Year, and the Prep Baseball Report Player of the Year. His slider is ranked No. 1 in the class by MLB Pipeline, while Baseball America lists him has having the best breaking ball among high schoolers.
During his high school career he was named an All-American multiple times by Rawlings-Perfect Game, including: 2021 First Team Preseason All-American, 2020 West Region First Team Preseason All-American and 2019 High Honorable Mention Preseason Underclassman All-American.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 190-pounds, Jobe has lived up to his ranking by Baseball America as the “Top Athlete” among high schoolers in the draft class. Not only has he excelled on the mound, but also in the batters box where he posted a .469 batting average with 13 doubles, 5 triples, 6 homers, and 37 RBI in 2021. Additionally, he was Heritage Hall’s starting quarterback during his sophomore and junior seasons, before COVID-19 abbreviated his career on the gridiron. Jobe averaged 82.3 passing yards per game over 11 games during his 2018 campaign, and 186.5 per game over six contests his junior year.
Jackson is no stranger to pro sports, as his father, Brandt, has been a professional golfer since 1988 and is currently on the PGA Champions Tour. The elder Jobe has also played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and the Japan Golf Tour, winning tournaments such as the Principal Charity Classic (2017) and Boeing Classic (2019).
Pacheco was drafted by Detroit in the second round (39th overall), and joins the organization out of Friendswood High School in Friendswood, TX. Over 34 games during Pacheco’s senior season he batted .543 with six home runs, four triples, 12 doubles, 45 RBI and 41 runs, while posting a 1.611 OPS. During his pandemic-shortened junior season he batted .414 with six doubles and two homers, 14 runs scored, 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He was Texas’ 22-5A Offensive MVP after hitting .442 with four doubles, five homers and 25 runs scored as a sophomore, and was the state’s 24-6A Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2018, batting .296 with 14 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and a .510 SLG.
The lefthanded hitting shortstop measures in at 6-foot-4, 225-pounds, and at 21 years-old was ranked highly by many third-party media outlets, including No. 30 overall by MLB Pipeline and the 35th best overall/seventh-best shortstop prospect in the draft by Perfect Game. He was named to numerous All-American teams by Rawlings-Perfect Game, including: 2021 First Team Preseason All-American, 2020 and 2019 First Team Preseason Underclass All-American, and 2018 High Honorable Mention Preseason Underclass All-American.
Jobe and Pacheco are currently at the club’s TigerTown Complex in Lakeland, where they will begin their careers as professional players.
With today’s two additions, the Tigers have now signed 14 of the 21 players that the organization selected in the 2021 MLB Draft. Those players include: RHP Jackson Jobe (R1 – third overall), RHP Ty Madden (Competitive Balance A Round – 32nd overall), INF Izaac Pacheco (R2), RHP Tyler Mattison (R4), RHP Tanner Kohlhepp (R5), 1B Austin Murr (R6), LHP Brant Hurter (R7), RHP Jordan Marks (R8), RHP Garrett Burhenn (R9), C Mike Rothenberg (R12), RHP Blake Houb (R15), RHP Aaron Haase (R17), OF Ben Malgeri (R18) and OF JD McLaughlin (R20).