6/04 Pitcher Preview: Edwin Jackson

Tonight will be Josh Beckett vs Edwin Jackson in TB.

We know Beckett is 2 seam fb, 4 seam fb, curveball and changeup. See these posts for Beckett data.

Here is Edwin Jackson:

4 pitch guy: Fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. The slider and curveball are fairly similar. Not an impressive curveball and has decent downward tilt on the slider. Here are his average speeds:

FB: 94
CB: 80
SL: 85
CH: 88

While he has 4 pitches, he really only uses three. His curveball is just for show:

Stand	FB		CB		CH		SL		Grand Total
Left	312	60.7%	32	6.2%	137	26.7%	33	6.4%	514
Right	317	61.0%	39	7.5%	21	4.0%	143	27.5%	520
Grand Total	629	60.8%	71	6.9%	158	15.3%	176	17.0%	1034

Versus LHB, he is a FB/CH guy. He could afford to throw a breaking ball more to lefties. LHB have a .789 OPS while RHB are at .648.

Here is his pitches by count, broken down by batter hand:

Looks pretty confident with that slider versus the righties. I wonder why he doesn't use it more against lefties. If he can learn to throw that slider down and in to lefties, he might be more effective against them.