Andre Jackson had a solid start to his 2023 season, but an appearance in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss in the series opener against the Chicago Cubs was a night to forget.
The Cubs hit four home runs off Jackson, and he allowed five total runs on six hits while only striking out one and issuing one walk of his two innings of work.
After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested Jackson may have been tipping his pitches, but also acknowledged the right-hander still needed to be better with too many hittable pitches thrown.
Jackson was unsure if he was tipping pitches, but it’s something he’s done before and said “it comes in waves,” so he would need to look into it more.
After reviewing the video, the Dodgers caught the tell Jackson was giving Cubs’ hitters.
“I think we’ve kind of sussed it out, and Andre was tipping his pitches,” Roberts said. “So you got to give credit to those guys for detecting that from Andre. He didn’t make great pitches, but it’s certainly a lot easier when you know what’s coming.”
Jackson pitched through the struggles, which allowed the Dodgers to avoid burning another reliever in the loss, which his manager appreciated. “Yeah, just had to battle,” Jackson said.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my best stuff. So just try to compete again.”
Jackson is going to be unavailable on Sunday, after being down for Saturday’s game as well. He should be back online for Monday’s series opener against the New York Mets.
Dave Roberts not worried about Andre Jackson
A young player enduring such a rough performance could affect his confidence moving forward, but Roberts doesn’t believe it will with Jackson.
“I don’t think so,” Roberts said. “I mean, I hope not. You know, you get hit in the mouth and you’ve got to respond. It’s not an easy league. And, again, he didn’t make a lot of good pitches. It was good to see him save an arm, but he still had to go out there and put up zeros.”
As for Jackson, he just wants to turn the page. “Just come back,” he said.
“Think about your success, throw your away failures. Keep moving.”
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