McDaniel: The twists and turns of Edwin Jackson
From Rachael McDaniel at FanGraphs on May 16, 2019:
It is 2019, and Edwin Jackson is making his first major league start of the season.
As far as games in mid-May go, this is not a particularly compelling one. The Blue Jays are not very good, and neither are the Giants; it is a sleepy grey afternoon in San Francisco, cool and windy. The Giants do have Shaun Anderson making his major league debut, and the Jays have the constant allure of Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. There is little promise, though, of fireworks on the pitching side.
Jackson is a veteran right-hander filling in a vacancy in a weak rotation. There is no expectation of transcendence here. He opens the frame by hitting Joe Panik with a cutter; he follows that up with a four-pitch walk to Steven Duggar, he of the 5.0% walk rate. Two men on, nobody out.
Jackson doesn’t seem frazzled. He gets ahead of Evan Longoria, and then, on a 93.6 mph fastball, induces a double play ball. And though he doesn’t emerge from the inning unscathed thanks to a Pablo Sandoval double, the damage is minimal. One run comes across; the game is tied.
When the third out is recorded, Jackson walks back to the dugout, having finished his first inning on a new team for the 14th time.
Read the full article here: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-twists-and-turns-of-edwin-jackson/
Originally published: May 17, 2019. Last Updated: May 17, 2019.