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Mike Soroka Shut Down For 2022 Season With Elbow Soreness

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Mike Soroka’s return to MLB will not be in 2022, with the Braves placing the starter on the minor league injured list with right elbow soreness, as reported by Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including David O’Brien of the Athletic) there’s not structural damage, but Soroka will nevertheless be shut down and turn his attention to 2023.

It is yet another lost season for the now 25-year-old, who broke into the majors in early 2018 just shy of his 21st birthday. He would then deal with inflammation in his pitching shoulder and only pitched 25 2/3 innings. However, Soroka returned healthy in 2019 and posted a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts, totaling 174 2/3 innings with an average 20.3 K% and 5.9 BB% en route to an All-Star appearance, NL Rookie of Year runner-up, and a 6th place finish in Cy Young voting.

On the heels of his great rookie season, Soroka was named the Braves’ Opening Day starting pitcher, becoming the youngest ever in the team’s modern history. However, after only 13 2/3 innings, Soroka tore his Achilles tendon midway through a start — ending his 2020 season. Soroka began the 2021 season on the 60-day injured list while continuing his rehab. However, in a cruel twist, as he was progressing, he had a setback and was forced to undergo a second surgery on his Achillies, ending his 2021 season.

Soroka returned to the field in August, with the Braves optioning him to Triple-A Gwinnett after his activation as he worked his way back from three surgery on his Achilles tendon. However, in 21 innings pitched (five starts) in Gwinnett, Soroka has given up 20 hits and 15 earned runs.

In his absence, the Braves haven’t missed a step. Fresh off winning the 2021 World Series, Atlanta’s starting rotation has held steady. Led by Max Fried and Spencer Strider, the rotation features five pitchers who have each made at least 20 starts. Collectively, Braves starters have posted the sixth-lowest ERA, sixth-most innings pitched, and the second-highest K% at 25.2% league-wide

Soroka agreed to a $2.8MM salary to avoid arbitration this past offseason. He’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more after this season and is unlikely to receive much of a raise (if any) after another lost year, assuming the Braves tender him a contract.

MLBTR Poll: Predicting The NL East Winner

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As the regular season nears its conclusion, the playoff picture has mostly come into focus. Of the 12 teams currently in playoff position, 10 have a cushion of at least 4 1/2 games. The Padres and Phillies are working to hold off the Brewers for the final two Wild Card spots in the National League, but the rest of the teams currently in playoff position have put themselves in a great spot to reach the postseason barring a major collapse. There’s an outside shot the White Sox track down the Guardians in the AL Central or the Orioles get back into the AL Wild Card race, but it’d take a major turn of events over the next two weeks.

There’s a similar lack of intrigue in most of the division races. The Astros and Dodgers have already clinched their respective divisions. The Yankees, Guardians and Cardinals all hold leads of six-plus games in theirs. The only division race that promises plenty of intrigue down the stretch: the battle for the NL East.

Both the Mets and Braves are already guaranteed to make the postseason. They’re each likely to surpass 100 wins. Yet one of those teams will come up just shy of a division title, leaving them as the #4 seed in the National League. That means a three-game series against the #5 seed in a first-round Wild Card set under the playoff format introduced in this spring’s collective bargaining agreement. Obviously, both teams would much prefer to secure the division title (and almost certainly the NL’s #2 seed and accompanying first-round bye). Which one is the frontrunner for the division crown? Let’s take a look at the remaining road for each and their current health outlook.

Mets (95-56 record, +147 run differential)

Remaining schedule: at Oakland (three games), vs. Miami (two games), at Atlanta (three games), vs. Washington (three games)

The Mets have 11 games remaining. Eight of them are against teams 28 games or more below .500. The other three: a crucial series next weekend in Atlanta. New York welcomed back Max Scherzer from a brief injured list stint on Monday. He came out with six perfect innings against the Brewers, striking out nine, before being lifted due to a pitch count limitation. The Mets rotation is at full strength at the right time, pushing players like Tylor Megill and David Peterson into the bullpen.

The biggest current injury for the Mets is on the position player side. Right fielder Starling Marte has yet to return after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his right middle finger two weeks back. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweeted this afternoon that the All-Star outfielder is hopeful he’ll be back in time for next weekend’s series with the Braves. Center fielder Brandon Nimmo, meanwhile, left today’s game with left quad soreness. Mike Puma of the New York Post relays that he’s likely to go for imaging tomorrow but Nimmo downplayed the severity of the issue postgame.

Braves (93-56 record, +171 run differential)

Remaining schedule: at Philadelphia (four games), at Washington (three games), vs. Mets (three games), at Miami (three games)

The defending champions dug themselves an early hole with a mediocre first two months, but they’ve been incredible since the calendar flipped to June. They’re a staggering 70-28 over the past three and a half months, nearly erasing a deficit that was once as high as 10 1/2 games in the process. They’ve pulled even with the Mets in the loss column but have two fewer wins, leaving them with a bit more work to do to get ahead in the standings.

The Braves kick off a four-game set with the Phillies tomorrow. That’s a much more difficult series than any the Mets will play (aside from the Braves themselves), but Atlanta just swept Philly last weekend.

Like the Mets, Atlanta doesn’t have any key starting pitchers currently on the injured list. Rookie star Spencer Strider is battling some oblique soreness and had today’s scheduled start pushed back slightly, but there’s no indication an IL stint is currently under consideration. As with New York, Atlanta is down one star position player thanks to a fractured finger though. The Braves lost Ozzie Albies to a right pinky fracture over the weekend. There’s a chance he returns in the postseason but he’s not expected back before the end of the regular season. Rookie Vaughn Grissom filled in well in recent weeks while Albies was rehabbing a broken foot; he’ll be asked to do the same for the stretch run.

Tiebreaker procedure

The final three games between the Mets and Braves obviously loom as the largest remaining on the schedule for both clubs. Not only are they the most directly impactful in the standings, they also carry implications for the tiebreaker. The new CBA did away with the traditional Game 163 in favor of a tiebreaker system. If two clubs finish the season with the same record, the team with the better head-to-head mark gets the nod in the standings. The Mets lead this year’s season series 9-7, meaning Atlanta would need to sweep their final meeting to secure the tiebreaker.

How does the MLBTR readership expect things to play out? Which team will celebrate an NL East crown two weeks from now?

(poll link for app users)

 

Braves Outright Jay Jackson

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In an unsurprising move, Atlanta Braves’ relief pitcher Jay Jackson has passed through waivers unclaimed, as reported in MLB’s Transactions Log. Jackson was not on the active roster prior to his DFA, but was on the Braves’ 40-man while with Gwinnett. An early offseason addition for the defending champs, the 34-year-old Jackson was DFA’d by the San Francisco Giants and traded to the Braves. However, his start to the 2022 season was delayed by a right lat strain that forced him to the injured list. Once active, he was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett where he posted a 1.53 ERA in 17 2/3 innings with 20 strikeouts with a strong 29.4 K% and 4.4 BB%. Jackson finally made his season debut on August 29th, pitching one-third of an inning before following that up by pitching another inning on August 31st. In total, he pitched 1 1/3 innings, giving up one hit and striking out a single batter.

Jackson has bounced around in his career prior to his latest DFA, having been a part of 7 Major League organizations in his 15-year career. Most recently, he spent the 2021 season with the Giants, pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with a high 31.3 K%. Nevertheless, Jackson walked a fair share of batters posting a 13.3% BB%. Prior to his stint with the Giants, Jackson was with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan’s NPB from 2016-2018, coming back to the majors in 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers, before returning to NPB with the Chiba Lotte Marines briefly in 2020.

As noted in a previous MLBTR article, Jackson was owed the balance of a $1.5MM major league salary, is not playoff-eligible for a new team,  and is a free agent after the season. By remaining in Triple-A he will receive the rest of his salary and be a depth option for the Braves. Regardless he will be a free agent after this season and will likely garner plenty of minor league interest, having had a strong showing in Gwinnett, with the Giants in 2021, and in NPB.

Kurt Suzuki To Retire After 2022 Season

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Longtime big league catcher Kurt Suzuki will retire once the 2022 season concludes, he tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That comes the day after the Hawaii native’s 39th birthday.

“I feel like it’s time,” Suzuki told Fletcher. “I’ve had a great run, won a World Series, All-Star Game. Played 16 seasons. I’ve accomplished a lot of things I never would have dreamed of. I felt like it’s time for the next chapter. My three kids, all they’ve known is baseball.”

Suzuki began his professional career in 2004. A second-round pick of the A’s out of Cal State Fullerton, he made it to Oakland three years later. Suzuki debuted in June 2007 and cemented himself as the A’s primary catcher from essentially that point forward. The right-handed hitter topped 130 games every year between 2008-11, generally hitting at a slightly below-average level overall but better than average for a catcher. Suzuki’s high-contact approach made him a solid offensive backstop for much of his time in Oakland, and the A’s dealt him to the Nationals in the summer of 2012.

After finishing out that season in Washington, Suzuki wound up back in Oakland via trade in August ’13. He qualified for free agency for the first time after that year, signing with the Twins. Suzuki bounced back from a couple down offensive years to hit .288/.345/.383 and earn an All-Star nod that year, and Minnesota signed him to a two-year extension that summer. His production dipped during his final two seasons in Minnesota, but he rebounded with one of the best years of his career after signing with Atlanta going into 2017. He popped a career-best 19 home runs and hit .283/.351/.536 through 81 games, earning a midseason extension for a second season with the Braves.

Suzuki didn’t quite replicate his 2017 production, but he posted another above-average offensive season to wrap up his time in Atlanta. After hitting .271/.322/.444 with 12 longballs, he landed another multiyear deal in free agency. Heading into the 2019 campaign, the Nationals inked Suzuki to a two-year, $10MM deal to pair with Yan Gomes behind the dish. That contract paid off in year one, as the veteran hit another 17 homers with a .264/.324/.486 line in 85 regular season games. Suzuki saw his most extensive playoff action during the Nats run a World Series title that year. That included a go-ahead homer off Justin Verlander in the seventh inning in Game 2 of the World Series, the biggest play in a win that gave Washington a 2-0 series lead.

After another solid showing with Washington during the shortened 2020 campaign, Suzuki has played the last two seasons on successive one-year pacts with the Angels. He’s had a couple down years to wrap up his career, working primarily as a backup in Orange County.

Suzuki’s career totals won’t be finalized until the season concludes, but he’s not likely to change his ledger all that much over the final two weeks. As he noted, Suzuki has played in 16 consecutive big league seasons and surpassed 1600 games. He owns a .255/.314/.388 line with 143 home runs, 729 runs batted in and 594 runs scored. Suzuki made an All-Star game and played a key role on a World Series team. Baseball Reference values his career around 20 wins above replacement. FanGraphs, which factors in Suzuki’s below-average pitch framing metrics, pegs him around nine wins.

Independent of that discrepancy in value, there’s little doubt about the impressiveness of a major league career that lasted more than a decade and a half. It’s possible he’ll continue his baseball career in some capacity, as Suzuki indicated he’d be happy to discuss the possibility of assuming a non-playing role with Halos general manager Perry Minasian (with whom he’s also familiar from their overlapping stints in Atlanta). MLBTR congratulates Suzuki on his lengthy career and wishes him all the best in his post-2022 endeavors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Ozzie Albies Suffers Fractured Right Pinky Finger

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3:07PM: Albies will be in a cast for three weeks but he won’t require surgery.  The Braves will continue to evaluate the second baseman for his health and possible readiness for the playoffs.  (MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to report the news.)

8:20AM: The Braves have officially placed Albies back on the injured list, albeit the 10-day IL. To fill the vacant 28-man roster spot, Rylan Bannon has been called up from Triple-A Gwinnett. Bannon has bounced around this season, having begun the year with the Orioles before being placed on waivers and claimed by the Dodgers and then the Braves in mid-August. In 81 at-bats at the Braves’ top-level affiliate, the righty has slashed .323/.432/.477, good for a .909 OPS.

SEPTEMBER 17TH: In just his second game back since being activated off the 60-day injured list, Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies suffered a fractured right pinky finger in tonight’s game against the Phillies.  The injury occurred during a slide into second base in the fourth inning, and Albies was replaced by Vaughn Grissom at second base for the top of the fifth.

The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, though the fact that initial x-rays determined the problem before the game was over could indicate more than just a small fracture.  It would seem like Albies’ 2022 season could be over, perhaps even if Atlanta made another run to the World Series.

Albies was a big contributor to last year’s championship team, earning his second career All-Star and Silver Slugger honors while also finishing 13th in NL MVP voting.  However, Albies was off to a relatively slow start over the 2022 campaign’s first two months before he suffered a left foot fracture on June 13 and had to undergo surgery.  As noted, Albies was sidelined until just yesterday, when he went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Atlanta’s 7-2 win over Philadelphia.

The Braves have managed to thrive even without Albies for much of the season, and Grissom has somewhat unexpectedly stepped up as an immediate contributor after being promoted from Double-A a little over a month ago.  Grissom has hit .304/.355/.482 over his first 121 plate appearances in the majors, leading to some speculation that the Braves would try Grissom in left field in order to keep his hot bat in the lineup.  However, it seems as though opposing pitchers have started to adjust to Grissom, as the rookie has only a .607 OPS over his last 67 PA.

Nevertheless, in the wake of Albies’ injury, it would seem like Grissom will now again be the top choice at second base for the remainder of the regular season and postseason.  Orlando Arcia is also on hand to provide depth, and Ehire Adrianza is also on hand, but currently on the IL himself due to a quad strain.  Pat Valaika, Hernan Perez, and Ryan Goins are some of the Triple-A options with MLB experience, though Atlanta could have to add any of those players to the 40-man roster.

It was less than a year ago that the Braves overcame the odds by winning the World Series despite losing a star player (Acuna) to injury for much of the season and throughout the playoffs.  While the book isn’t yet closed on Albies’ possible availability in the postseason, his absence for at least a few weeks will make it harder for the Braves to overtake the Mets in the NL East, and potentially capture a first-round bye.  The NL East runner-up is all but guaranteed to be the NL’s top wild card team and thus is set to host all three games (if necessary) of the Wild Card Series, yet Atlanta would obviously love to avoid those extra games and an extra chance of elimination.

Braves Place Kirby Yates On Injured List

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The Braves announced that reliever Kirby Yates has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 13, due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Righty William Woods was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take his spot in the bullpen. Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets that Yates experienced some discomfort while throwing this afternoon.

An elbow inflammation diagnosis for Yates is a bit alarming, as it comes on the heels of a lengthy rehab from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander missed most of the abbreviated 2020 campaign battling elbow issues, and his efforts to avoid going under the knife proved unsuccessful. He required Tommy John surgery in March 2021 and spent a season and a half on the injured list before being reinstated in mid-August.

Despite the lengthy rehab process, the Braves rolled the dice on a two-year guarantee for Yates last offseason. He’s making just $1MM this year and will earn $6MM next season before the club has to decide on a 2024 team option valued at $5.25MM. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos and his staff were clearly hoping Yates would recapture something resembling his 2019 form. During his last full healthy season, the Hawaii native was arguably the best reliever in the game. He saved an MLB-leading 41 games, posted a 1.19 ERA and struck out 41.6% of opponents over 60 2/3 innings with the Padres that season.

While there’s still time for Yates to turn things around, he’s shown signs of rust through his first month in Atlanta. The 35-year-old has logged seven innings over nine outings, allowing four runs on a pair of homers with five walks and six strikeouts. Yates’ 93.4 MPH average fastball velocity is right in line with his pre-surgery work, but the pitch has been hit hard so far this season. On the plus side, his trademark split has again been an excellent offering.

The Braves haven’t provided any kind of timetable for Yates’ expected return. There are a bit less than three weeks remaining in the regular season. A minimal stint would give Yates an opportunity to make it back for an outing or two before the playoffs, but any absence stretching notably beyond 15 days would take him into the postseason. Paired with his early struggles, Yates’ elbow discomfort could make it difficult for the team to carry him on a playoff roster. That’s particularly true in light of the team’s overall strength at the back end. The Braves have the majors’ fifth-lowest bullpen ERA (3.17) and second-best strikeout rate (27.4%).

Braves Activate Ozzie Albies, Designate Jay Jackson For Assignment

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The Braves announced Friday that second baseman Ozzie Albies has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Fellow infielder Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained quadriceps to open a spot on the active roster, while righty Jay Jackson was designated for assignment in order to clear a 40-man spot for Albies.

Albies, still just 25 years old, hasn’t appeared in a game since June 13 thanks to a broken left foot that ultimately required surgery. The Braves, at one point, were hopeful of a mid-August return for the two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner, but Albies’ recovery took a bit longer than that best-case scenario. Even without Albies’ all-around excellence, however, the Braves have been one of MLB’s hottest teams. Since his injury, Atlanta has played at a sweltering 52-28 pace, surging to just one game back of the NL East lead.

Inserting Albies back into the lineup will only make the Braves all the more dangerous. He is, after all, a .270/.321/.470 career hitter whose most recent full-season, 2021, was also the first 30-homer campaign of his impressive young career.

In Albies’ absence, the Braves have cycled through several options at the keystone. None of Orlando Arcia, Phil Gosselin or the aforementioned Adrianza hit particularly well in limited action at the position, however, and the organization eventually made the decision to call top prospect Vaughn Grissom up directly from Double-A in an effort to get more production from second base. Grissom has flashed all the tools that make him such a ballyhooed prospect in his initial look at the MLB level, but his bat has also cooled after a blistering start to the his career. Grissom slashed .420/.463/.660 through his first 14 games (54 plate appearances), but he’s batting just .210/.269/.333 in 17 games since and is has only one hit in his past five games.

For now, Grissom will stay on the big league roster despite the fact that Albies will step back into a full-time role at second base. There’s been talk of giving Grissom some time in left field, where neither Eddie Rosario nor Marcell Ozuna has provided much value to the lineup this season. There are also DH at-bats to go around, of course, so it’s possible for both Albies and Grissom to be in the lineup — which would come at the expense of playing time for some combination of Rosario, Ozuna and deadline acquisition Robbie Grossman.

The 34-year-old Jackson wasn’t on the active roster prior to today’s move but had been occupying a 40-man spot while pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s handled himself quite nicely there, to put things mildly; in 17 2/3 frames with Gwinnett, Jackson allowed just three runs on 13 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts — good for a 1.53 ERA.

Jackson’s DFA is largely a case of poor timing and unfortunate (for him) circumstances. He missed the first several months of the season due to a lat strain and never really got much of a look in Atlanta thanks to an already loaded bullpen. The Braves are deep in quality veteran options, with Kenley Jansen, Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, Collin McHugh and Kirby Yates all under contract and pitching well. Rookie left-hander Dylan Lee has quietly been dominant for Atlanta, and the only other spot in the bullpen is currently occupied by out-of-options righty Jackson Stephens, who has pitched to a solid 3.74 ERA in a multi-inning role there.

The Braves could’ve opted to jettison Stephens and go with Jackson, but doing so would have required them to place Stephens on waivers, given his lack of minor league options. Jackson, who returned to the Majors in 2021 after spending the 2020 season in Japan, can become a free agent at season’s end under the terms of the contract he inked, MLBTR has confirmed. As such, the choice effectively boils down to four more years of Stephens versus a few more weeks of Jackson.

Given that Jackson is still owed the balance of a $1.5MM Major League salary, wouldn’t be playoff-eligible for a new team and is a free agent after the season, there’s a good chance he’ll clear waivers even in spite of his big showing in Gwinnett. If that’s the case, he could remain on hand as a depth option who could be summoned in the event of a late injury. Either way, he’ll reach the open market again this winter on the heels of a solid 2021-22  showing in Triple-A and having posted a combined 3.52 ERA with a 30.5% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate in 23 big league innings between San Francisco (21 2/3) and Atlanta (1 1/3) over the past two seasons.

Ian Anderson To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Oblique Strain

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Braves starter Ian Anderson suffered a left oblique strain while pitching with Triple-A Gwinnett, reports David O’Brien of the Athletic (Twitter link). O’Brien indicates he’ll miss at least a month, while Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets he’s expected to be out four-to-six weeks.

Even if Anderson makes it back within a month, he won’t pitch again in the regular season. There’s exactly three weeks remaining on the schedule, with the season wrapping up on October 5. Anderson could theoretically be available at some time during the playoffs, but it’s hard to envision the Braves carrying him on a series roster at this point. Even if Atlanta advances deep enough in the postseason Anderson’s healthy enough to return, he won’t have much a chance to build back into game shape. High-A Rome is the Braves’ only full-season affiliate that’ll make the playoffs, and they’re already playing postseason games. Their season will wrap up well before Anderson has a chance of getting back on a mound.

It’s not a given the 24-year-old would’ve gotten a playoff opportunity even if he had been fully healthy. Anderson has spent the past month in Triple-A after getting squeezed out of the big league rotation. That came on the heels of an even 5.00 ERA with a career-worst 19.7% strikeout percentage and a lofty 11% walk rate through 22 MLB starts. He’d certainly not have been a part of a playoff rotation, and players like Jake Odorizzi, Mike Soroka, Bryce Elder and perhaps Freddy Tarnok are all multi-inning relief candidates behind the presumptive top four starters: Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright.

In all likelihood, this injury closes the books on a rough season for Anderson. The former 3rd overall pick looked to have cemented himself as a mid-rotation arm in Atlanta through his first two big league campaigns. The changeup specialist carried a career 3.25 ERA into the 2022 season, and he allowed only three runs in 15 innings across four starts during last year’s World Series run. This year’s downturn came as a surprise, but Anderson still averages around 94 MPH on his fastball and actually induced swinging strikes this season at a 12.3% rate that’s narrowly a career best. That offers some hope he can iron things out in 2023 and beyond.

Anderson will continue to count against Atlanta’s 40-man roster while he’s on the minor league injured list. He won’t be paid a big league salary or collect MLB service during that time, although he’s already surpassed the two-year service threshold in 2022. He’s on track to reach arbitration for the first time after next season and is controllable through 2026.

Anthony Varvaro Killed In Car Accident

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Former big league reliever Anthony Varvaro died in a car accident this morning, according to multiple media reports.  The 37-year-old Varvaro became a New York/New Jersey Port Authority police officer after retiring from baseball, and the car accident took place while he was heading for duty at the September 11th memorial service today in downtown New York City.

A Staten Island native, Varvaro’s pro baseball career began when the Mariners selected him in the 12th round of the 2005 draft.  Varvaro made his big league debut with the Mariners in 2010, and then spent the next four seasons pitching with the Braves before tossing 11 innings with the Red Sox in 2015, his final MLB season.

Varvaro had some very solid numbers in the majors, posting a 3.23 ERA over 183 2/3 career innings.  He emerged as a workhorse in Atlanta’s bullpen in 2013-14, with 123 appearances and 128 innings over those two seasons (with an impressive 2.74 ERA).  The Red Sox acquired him during the 2014-15 offseason, though his work in 2015 and a would-be trade to the Cubs were both cut short by flexor tendon surgery.  After pitching with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in 2016, Varvaro then decided to retire at age 31, and pursue a new career in law enforcement.

A GoFundMe has been established for Varvaro’s family. We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Varvaro’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Edwin Jackson Announces Retirement

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Former All-Star Edwin Jackson took to Instagram this evening to officially announce his retirement from Major League Baseball. The right-hander pitched parts of 17 seasons in the majors, getting to the highest level every year between 2003-19. Jackson suited up for 14 different MLB teams, setting the all-time record for most uniforms donned.

“19 years ago today I was blessed with an opportunity to tie up my laces and step on the field to make my debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Jackson wrote. “Today I am happily hanging up my cleats and closing a 22-year baseball career.” Jackson went on to thank his wife, parents, sisters, children and the rest of his family before expressing his gratitude to various coaches, trainers and doctors who assisted him. “This game has taught me many life lessons and allowed me to evolve into the person I am today! I will forever have memories that will live within me from the game I love and dedicated my life to. Thank you baseball for an amazing life experience I will never forget,” he concluded.

A sixth-round draftee of the Dodgers out of a Georgia high school in 2001, Jackson emerged as one of the sport’s best pitching prospects not long thereafter. He broke into the big leagues exactly 19 years ago on his 20th birthday, starting three of four appearances down the stretch. He bounced on and off Los Angeles’ active roster for the next couple seasons before being traded to the then-Devil Rays over the 2005-06 offseason.

Jackson worked primarily as a reliever for his first season in Tampa Bay, but he took a full turn of starts by the 2007 campaign. That kicked off a stretch of seven consecutive seasons in which he surpassed 30 starts and 160 innings. Jackson pitched in Tampa Bay through 2008 before being dealt to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce. He tossed a career-best 214 innings the next year, posting a 3.62 ERA. Jackson earned an All-Star nod with a 2.52 mark through that season’s first half.

The next offseason, his nomadic career continued. Detroit flipped Jackson to the Diamondbacks as part of a three-team blockbuster that netted Detroit Max Scherzer and sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. His stint in the desert was rather brief — he’d wind up traded again at that summer’s deadline — but it provided one of the more memorable moments of his career. On June 25, 2010, he tossed a no-hitter against his former team at Tropicana Field. He threw a staggering 149 pitches in the outing, striking out six but issuing eight walks. Then-manager A.J. Hinch stuck with Jackson despite his high pitch count, and he completed one of the more remarkable single-game performances by a player in recent memory.

Not long after, the last-place club dealt Jackson to the White Sox in a trade that landed Arizona Daniel Hudson. Jackson pitched well in 11 starts down the stretch, and he got off to another solid start in 2011. The White Sox fell out of contention the latter season, though, and he was on the move again. The Blue Jays acquired Jackson from the White Sox on the morning of July 27, but his stint in Toronto lasted only a few hours. Toronto promptly flipped him to the Cardinals in a deal that sent Colby Rasmus north of the border.

Jackson played in St. Louis for the second half, pitching to a 3.58 ERA through 12 starts. He made four starts in the postseason, and while his playoff numbers weren’t great, the Cardinals secured the World Series title in a dramatic series win over the Rangers. Fresh off winning a title, Jackson signed with the Nationals during his first trip through free agency. He spent the 2012 campaign in the Nats rotation, helping Washington to their first playoff appearance since moving to D.C.

The next winter, Jackson inked a four-year, $52MM pact with the Cubs. He continued to soak up innings but didn’t post especially strong numbers in Chicago. After two and a half seasons, he was released. That kicked off an even more rapid trip around the league, as Jackson suited up with the Braves, Marlins, Padres, Orioles, Nationals (again), A’s, Blue Jays and Tigers (again) over the next four years. He alternated between the rotation and the bullpen throughout that time, generally serving as a depth option.

While Jackson signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks in 2020, he didn’t make it back to the majors. He did appear on the U.S. Olympic team last summer and expressed a desire to get back to the big leagues, but he didn’t get another opportunity with an affiliated organization.

Altogether, Jackson pitched in 412 major league games. He tossed 1960 innings with a 4.78 ERA, striking out a bit more than 1500 batters and winning 107 games. According to Baseball Reference, Jackson banked upwards of $66MM in earnings and incredibly logged some action for almost half the league. MLBTR congratulates Jackson on his lengthy, accomplished career and wishes him all the best in retirement.

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