Jackson adjusting to major-league hitters
SEATTLE — Zach Jackson’s first three months in the Oakland Athletics’ bullpen offer evidence that his pitching plays at the major-league level.
As July began, four MLB relievers had thrown at least 20 innings, allowed 5.5 or fewer hits per nine innings and struck out 12.5 or more batters per nine: past Reliever of the Year winners Josh Hader and Devin Williams, the Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley — and Jackson, the A’s rookie right-hander.
Of that group, Jackson owned the highest ERA at 3.64. A reason — along with striking out 42 batters and allowing 18 hits over 292⁄3 innings, he had issued 24 walks.
Walks were part of Jackson’s game in the minors, where he averaged 5.4 per nine innings, and he said perhaps the key difference for him in the jump to majors is facing hitters less prone to chasing pitches outside the strike zone.
“In outings where the walks have been up, I’ll be behind in counts, my misses aren’t competitive, and it seems like it’s definitely something (hitters) have picked up on,” Jackson said. “You’ll see a lot of guys take the first strike, force me to put it in the zone. … They have been able to lay off a lot of good pitches that at the minorleague level you’re able to get guys to chase on.”
Hitters had chased just 20.1% of Jackson’s pitches entering Friday, well below the 28.3% league average. But other metrics show his effectiveness when hitters must swing. Jackson had induced a 32.4% swing-and-miss rate that ranked in the 89th percentile of all pitchers. He was in the 93rd percentile in strikeout rate. He had faced 126 batters and allowed just four extrabase hits, all doubles.
“The hitters up here are obviously the best you’ve seen,” said Jackson, 28, who spent last year between Doubleand Triple-A. “It has been nice that for the most part, as far as the hits I’ve given up, it’s been fairly similar to what I’ve done at the minor-league level. … It’s just being able to adjust to the adjustment the league has made against me.”
Jackson has pitched in leverage situations all season for an Oakland bullpen lacking experience. He awoke Friday tied for fifth among AL relievers in holds (13). But command issues can be magnified in that role. Jackson walked at least one in half of his 32 outings.
“It’s his first stint in the big leagues, so every pitch, every game is important to him,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “We’re trying to work on the ability to breathe out there and slow the game down. You don’t have to overthrow everything. … I think he’s got good enough stuff to stay smooth and throw enough strikes.”
Emerson said when he visits the mound, “I tell him, ‘Air is free. It’s legal to breathe out here.’ ” But “part of ( Jackson’s) game is adrenaline,” Emerson said. “It helps the late life on his pitches.”
“He pitches with a lot of emotion, a lot of energy,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “You can use that to your benefit, sometimes it can work against you. We’ve seen both sides of it. I think he’s going to end up figuring out a balance to that. A young kid going through this process, I’ve been very pleased with how he’s performed.”
Briefly: Adrián Martínez, called up Thursday to start in Seattle, will get another turn in the rotation against Toronto, Kotsay said. … Outfielder Stephen Piscotty got a day off Friday despite the A’s facing a left-hander; Kotsay said the A’s “don’t want to overdo it” with Piscotty, who just returned from a calf injury.