Versatile Jackson provides in key role for Pirates

PITTSBURGH -- Andre Jackson’s outing on Thursday at PNC Park won’t count as a quality start because, well, he didn’t start. What it does count as, however, is the best outing of his career thus far.

Jackson followed up an opener in the first inning and allowed two runs across a career-high six frames in the Pirates’ 5-4 loss in 10 innings to the Cubs.

“My main objective is to see how many outs we can get in any role, whether it’s starting or coming out of the ‘pen,” Jackson said. “I’ve been pitching in a lot of different roles this year. The one objective, always, is to get as many outs as you can as efficiently as you can.”

The utilization of an opener isn’t a completely new development in Pittsburgh, albeit one that has been used sparingly.

On two occasions this season, the most recent being this Sunday, left-hander Ryan Borucki served as the opener for right-hander Osvaldo Bido. On Monday, Thomas Hatch opened with three scoreless innings before handing the ball off to Bailey Falter, who pitched six scoreless innings in relief. On Thursday, left-hander Rob Zastryzny pitched the first inning, allowing a run, before handing the ball off to Jackson, who served in the bulk role.

Jackson is accustomed to pitching in a variety of roles. During his time with the Dodgers this season, both in the Majors and the Minors, he served as a starter, an opener and a bulk reliever. Jackson’s first two appearances as a Pirate were as a traditional reliever (he retired all 15 batters that he faced across those outings), but his next two outings were as a starter (five earned runs allowed over eight innings).

The right-hander likely won’t have a clear, defined role moving forward, rather one that’s based on matchups. There might be instances in which he starts, and there might be instances in which he, again, pitches in long relief of an opener. Regardless, Jackson’s ability to provide length will be a valuable asset for a team whose rotation remains in flux.

Currently, the Pirates have two pitchers who, without question, will be used solely as starting pitchers: Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo. Falter will likely primarily start moving forward -- he’s listed as Sunday’s probable starting pitcher -- but it’s unclear if he could, once again, be used in a bulk role. Luis L. Ortiz has returned to the rotation, but he allowed five earned runs across 3 1/3 innings in his first outing back.

The Pirates are in need of pitchers who can provide innings and save the bullpen. On Thursday, Jackson made a case that he can be one of those guys.

“It’s reassuring that you have that guy in that bulk role who can not only give you six innings, but he was pretty efficient doing it,” said manager Derek Shelton.

Jackson allowed two runs on four hits in his first inning of work, needing 22 pitches to complete the frame. From there, Jackson pitched five innings of scoreless ball, allowing only two harmless singles and throwing roughly 11 pitches per inning. In Jackson’s second inning of relief, he needed only seven pitches to complete the frame.

Jackson mixed in a fair amount of spin during his first inning of work, throwing five curveballs and five sliders, but Jackson’s breaking pitches weren’t particularly effective. His first slider of the evening was laced for a double by Seiya Suzuki, while his fourth slider was slapped into right field by Nico Hoerner for an RBI single.

From the third inning onward, Jackson relied primarily on his four-seam fastball and changeup; of the 57 pitches that Jackson threw the rest of the night, 30 pitches were fastballs and 15 pitches were changeups, an offspeed offering that induced four whiffs.

“It looked like they were a little passive with the heaters early in that first inning I was out there,” Jackson said. “They got some spin pitches that I left up, so I was trying to be aggressive and speed them up a little bit. I just stuck with that the rest of the game and was trying to read swings a little bit. The heater was working with it.”