STEVEN JACKSON

3/15/82; '04 10th (Arizona); Clemson Univ.
R/R; 6-5, 215

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2004 A- (Ari)

1-0-0

23.2

2.3

6.8

1.27

.255

4.56

2004 R+ (Ari)

0-1-0

10.0

1.8

7.2

1.80

.348

3.60

2005 A (Ari)

10-5-0

158.2

205

3.2

5.0

1.65

.321

5.33

2006 AA (Ari)

8-11-0

149.2

131

125

2.7

7.5

1.18

.239

2.71

2007 AAA (NYY)

4-8-0

69.0

3.8

6.5

1.77

.317

5.87

2007 AA (NYY)

0-1-1

21.0

3.9

6.9

1.38

.256

3.86

2008 AAA (NYY)

3-0-4

48.1

3.5

10.1

1.30

.246

3.17

2008 AA (NYY)

1-3-2

31.1

3.4

10.6

1.28

.241

5.74

2009 NL

2-3-0

43.0

4.6

4.4

1.40

.236

3.14

2009 AAA

1-0-0

18.0

2.5

8.5

1.56

.319

6.50

2009 AAA (NYY)

0-0-1

14.1

1.9

5.0

1.33

.276

1.88

The Pirates claimed Jackson off waivers from the Yankees. Ironically, the Yankees acquired him in the same trade as current Pirate Ross Ohlendorf. Jackson had only sporadic success in the minors before moving to the bullpen in 2008. The move saw his K rate increase significantly. The increase may also have resulted from improvements to his slider and splitter. According to Baseball America, his primary pitch is a low-90s sinker, although he's not a groundball pitcher. He's had a moderate platoon split over his career, although he's actually had a reverse platoon split starting in 2008.

At the time the Pirates acquired Jackson, they were looking at a serious lack of bullpen depth. He didn't pitch well at Indianapolis, getting hit hard and not fanning that many hitters, but he got called up anyway at the beginning of June. He was sent back down in early July due to a roster crunch, but returned a month later and stayed with the Bucs through the end of the season. He was used frequently and was probably as effective as anybody in a horrible bullpen. His ERA was better than his other numbers, though, especially the walk and strikeout numbers. He also had a batting average on balls in play of .264, which is probably unrealistically low. Jackson did avoid long hits, as opponents slugged only .335 against him. He had periodic meltdowns when he couldn't get the ball over the plate. At best, Jackson is a middle reliever or mopup man, a commodity the Pirates have accumulated in abundance. This trend is disturbingly reminiscent of Dave Littlefield and his fascination with AAA relievers. A couple other worrisome trends are GM Neal Huntington's fascination with one-pitch pitchers, particularly sinkerballers like Jackson, Kevin Hart and Franquelis Osoria, and his propensity for pitchers who are 26 and older and haven't had any major league success yet. Jackson will compete for a bullpen spot in 2010, but if he's competing for a late-inning spot, the Pirates will probably be looking at Huntington's third straight bad bullpen.

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