Atlanta Braves: Breaking Down All of Luke Jackson’s Blown Saves
By Seth Carter
Atlanta Braves – Luke Jackson’s Blown Saves – April 16
On April 16, the Braves were up 5-2 in the seventh inning when Chad Sobotka came in and promptly plunked Tim Locastro and Adam Jones. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz came to the mound and probably said “don’t hit the next guy.” So, Sobotka walked Ketel Marte to load the bases.
The Braves opted to bring in Jesse Biddle to mop up this mess, with the go-ahead run up to bat with no outs. Biddle and Escobar dueled to a full count. The 3-2 pitch was a meatball that Escobar ripped to rightfield. Locastro and Jones both started to feel better about being hit by pitches as they each score. Marte moved to third.
Biddle then walked David Peralta to again load the bases.
Snitker called for time and made his way to the mound. He probably muttered something about how his smartwatch has notified him that Biddle and Sobotka had now caused him to hit his step goal for the night. Insert Luke Jackson.
Luke enters the game with the bases loaded the red-hot Christian Walkers steps up to the plate. On the first pitch, Jackson goes with a nice front-door slider that starts off the plate inside and creeps back over the inside edge. Unfortunately, Walker gets a piece of it.
In what would become a trademark of Jackson’s proficiency last season, he induced a groundball. This one just happened to find its way past a diving Dansby Swanson, allowing Marte to score. All three of Sobotka ‘s free passes had now scored. The game was tied and because the inning started with a save situation for Sobotka, and despite the fact that Biddle and Sobotka really blew the seventh inning for the Braves. Jackson was credited with the blown save because of that one ground ball.
He would go on to induce a dinky groundout from Wilmer Flores to Ozzie Albies but it allowed Eduardo Escobar to score. He intentionally walked Nick Ahmed and then struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Jackson was not charged with any earned runs, pitched one inning, allowed one hit, and struck out two. It was a solid outing, but he was charged with the blown save because of a groundball that found its way past Dansby Swanson.
You have to be okay with two groundballs and two strikeouts. Soft contact and strikeouts are all you can ask for, one of the grounders found a hole. What are you gonna do?