Edwin Jackson

From Detroit Tigers

Edwin Jackson (born September 9, 1983 in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria, West Germany) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.

[edit] Early life

Jackson's father, a cook in the United States Army, was stationed in Germany at the time of his birth. Jackson is one of 27 major league players who were born in Germany. The majority of Jackson's youth, however, was spent in Columbus, Georgia.<ref name="reference1">"Edwin Jackson: Biography and Career Highlights". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=429719. Retrieved on 2008-12-11. </ref> His cousin, Bobby Jackson, currently plays for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA.

[edit] Baseball career

[edit] Los Angeles Dodgers

Jackson was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round<ref name="yahoo01">"Yahoo Sports Player Profile". http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7241. </ref> of the 2001 MLB entry draft out of Shaw High School in Columbus.<ref name="mlb01">"Tampa Bay Devil Rays Player File". http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=429719. </ref> He was originally drafted as an outfielder but was quickly converted into a pitcher by the Dodgers.<ref name="mlb01">"Tampa Bay Devil Rays Player File". http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=429719. </ref> There was a time when Jackson was regarded as one of the premiere pitching prospects in baseball (after posting sub-4.00 ERAs in AA and the majors at age 19 in 2003), but poor showings in AAA and MLB after that season ended his status as a "can't-miss" prospect.

[edit] Tampa Bay Rays

On January 14, 2006, Jackson and left-handed pitcher Chuck Tiffany were traded to the Devil Rays for pitchers Danys Baez and Lance Carter.

In 2006, Jackson saw more major league time then at any other point in his career; pitching in 23 games, mostly in middle relief, Jackson posted a 5.45 ERA in 36⅓ innings, including one start.

In 2007, Jackson saw his first season as a dedicated starter. His season began very poorly, going 1–9 with a 7.23 ERA in 17 games, 16 of them starts, over 74⅔ innings pitched. Jackson managed to rebound somewhat after the all-star break, posting a 4–6 record and a 4.48 ERA over 15 games, all of them starts. His season highlight came in a start against the Texas Rangers on August 11, in which he recorded a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits and one walk, striking out eight, throwing only 110 pitches and facing only 30 batters. Jackson finished the season with a 5–15 record and an ERA of 5.76.

However, in 2008, Jackson's career has shown signs of turning around for the better. Jackson won the number 4 spot in the Rays starting pitching rotation out of spring training and finished the season 14–11 with a 4.42 ERA.

[edit] Detroit Tigers

On December 10, 2008, Jackson was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for outfielder Matt Joyce.<ref>Rays ship Jackson to Tigers for Joyce</ref>

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Template:Start |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align:center;" |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"|Preceded by
Wily Mo Peña |width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="1"|Youngest player in the
National League
2003 – 2004 |width="30%" align="center" rowspan="1"| Succeeded by
Matt Cain |- |}