College ‘buddies’ miss out on reunion
CANADIANS: Jays farmhand Jackson promoted to Vancouver just as former Arkansas mate jumps a level
Zach Jackson was looking forward to lining up with college teammate Jackson Lowery with the Vancouver Canadians.
All he needed was someone from Vancouver to get promoted, opening up a roster spot. You can guess where this is going. The Toronto Blue Jays assigned Jackson, 21, their third-round pick in June’s amateur draft, to the C’s on July 13. That was the same day his former University of Arkansas bullpen mate Lowery, 23, was bumped up from short-season, single-A Vancouver to the single-A Lansing Lugnuts.
The moves were a part of four additions and two deletions made by the C’s that day.
“We are really good buddies and I had been excited to see him because I hadn’t seen him since February,” Jackson said of Lowery. “Of course, I’m ecstatic for the reason that he’s not here.”
Lowery, a right-hander, has been one of the good-news stories of Vancouver’s season so far. A free-agent signing by the Blue Jays in 2015, the 6-foot, 175-pounder had won the closer’s job with the C’s out of extended spring training and had recorded five saves in nine appearances in Vancouver at the time of his promotion to go along with a 0.87 earned-run average.
Jackson, also a righty, is a to-be-determined tale with the Northwest League club right now.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder had been used out of the bullpen in 59 of his 69 games over three years with Arkansas and he was their closer for a time, recording 15 saves. He throws hard, with his fastball reaching 97 miles per hour on occasion, and his quick, biting curveball has drawn raves from some scouts.
The knock on Jackson is his mechanics need work. His scouting report at mlb.com heading into the draft included this synopsis: “There’s a lot going on with his delivery, which features a long arm path and a deep shoulder tilt and it hampers his control and command.”
The Blue Jays want this summer to be about refining technique, he says.
“They told me to not worry about the results because I’m going to be changing so much,” said Jackson, who had 197 strikeouts and 99 walks in 156 innings over his three years at Arkansas. “We’re going to clean up some things.”
Jackson was assigned initially to the Blue Jays’ rookie-league team in the Gulf Coast League and made one appearance there before being shuttled to Vancouver. He was knocked around a little in his C’s debut in Boise on Saturday, giving up two earned runs on two hits in one inning, while walking two and striking out two.
“Hopefully I can start putting some scoreless innings together,” said Jackson. “We’re winning games. Hopefully I can contribute to that and help get us on a run.”
Jackson is from Berryhill, Okla., which according to Wikipedia is a small, unincorporated community west of Tulsa. Jackson says the population is about 4,000 and he says his grad class had 87 people in it.
Games sold out
The first four games of the Vancouver Canadians’ five-game set with the Eugene Emeralds at Nat Bailey Stadium are sold out, the club announced earlier this week.
That includes Thursday’s opener featuring a visit from Toronto Blue Jays stalwart Dave Stieb, Friday’s Nooner, Saturday’s fireworks night and Sunday’s afternoon tilt.
There are some limited seats available for Monday’s finale versus the Chicago Cubs’ farm club. That game includes a visit from the Famous Chicken. Vancouver follows up the Eugene series with three games in Everett and then a home set against Tri-City.
“Of course, I’m ecstatic for the reason that he’s (former C’s pitcher Jackson Lowery) not here.” — Zach Jackson