Pitcher makes the Nats seventh team of career
VIERA, Fla. — Edwin Jackson signed a one-year, $11 million deal with the Nationals just two weeks before spring training. It was a close call, but when his agent, Scott Boras, doesn’t find a market to his liking he’s always willing to secure a shorter contract so his client can build value for the following year.
That’s a season-long task. For now, Jackson, 28, is simply trying to get comfortable with his new surroundings — teammates, coaches, spring-training facilities and, eventually, a new city when he heads north to Washington early next month.
Part of that adjustment process was apparent in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Space Coast Stadium. Jackson allowed four runs, two of them earned, on five hits with a pair of walks. It was his least effective of three outings so far in spring training. But no one ever said the transition would be a completely smooth one.
| Tigers 6, Nats 3 |
| Neither Edwin Jackson nor Ross Detwiler did much to build on their solid spring training performances so far. Both Nationals pitchers labored through a 6-3 loss to Detroit at Space Coast Stadium on Tuesday. Jackson gave up four runs, two earned. Detwiler walked two batters in 22Ú3 innings with one run allowed on four hits. Ryan Zimmerman (8-for-14) continued his torrid spring training with a double and a sacrifice fly. |
Jackson’s defense let him down in the first inning when a two-out pitch to Clete Thomas was popped to left field. Unfortunately, Jason Michaels, in a fight to make the final roster as a bench outfielder, simply dropped the ball. The next batter, Ryan Raburn, ripped a home run down the line in left for a 2-0 lead. The Tigers scored a run in the third inning on three consecutive singles. Two walks to lead off the fourth led to an RBI single by Gerald Laird and ended Jackson’s night after 31Ú3 innings.
“It’s just what you consider bad luck. Walks aren’t bad luck. A home run is a home run,” Jackson said. “Errors happen. Mistakes happen. That’s part of the game. I got out of sync there in the fourth inning, but that’s what we’re here in spring training for — working out the kinks.”
Jackson is with his seventh team in a big-league career that began in 2003. He’s pitched well enough to draw interest from teams around the league as a quality innings-eater with the ability to strike out batters. But he’s never been so dominant that he’s made himself untouchable.
Jackson pitched fine in his first outing March 3 with no runs, a hit and two walks allowed in two innings. He was better on March 8 with three strikeouts in four scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and didn’t walk a batter — an issue throughout his career. But Jackson insisted mechanics weren’t the problem with Tuesday’s walks.
“In spring training we get caught up in results when [it is] a time when you’re getting ready for the season,” Jackson said. “That’s what we’re out there doing. This is the first [spring] game I’ve had walks so I’m not going to go kill myself.”
