One week after facing the pitcher he was traded for, Edwin Jackson will oppose the team he was speculated to be dealt to before last year’s deadline.
The Nationals — Jackson’s opponent Friday night — had no intention of acquiring a pitcher of Jackson’s price in any deal involving slugger Adam Dunn, and now the White Sox can only hope Jackson gives them more consistency as they pursue the American League Central title over the next three months.
“The only thing I’m trying to improve on is consistency,” said Jackson, who lost to the Diamondbacks’ Daniel Hudson (4-1) in his last start Friday at Chase Field. “That’s the main thing.”
Since acquiring Jackson on July 30, the Sox have seen glimpses of his talent, only to scratch their heads over bouts of wildness that have led to short outings.
After striking out 13 in eight innings against the Rays on April 7, a high pitch count limited Jackson to 4 2/3 innings in his next start, and he allowed 23 hits in the two starts after that.
He rebounded in early May by allowing one run in 15 innings over two starts, but he hasn’t come close to duplicating his beginning with the Sox last August, when he was 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in five starts.
The scrutiny of the Jackson acquisition has increased because Jackson, 27, is 8-8 with a 3.90 ERA in 25 starts since joining the Sox, while Hudson, 24, is 15-6 with a 2.74 ERA in 26 starts for the Diamondbacks.
Meanwhile, the Nationals (38-37) have a better record than the Sox (37-39) despite the free-agent loss of Dunn, from whom the Sox have yet to receive a big return on the first year of the four-year, $56 million investment.
“We felt the (proposed) deals for Adam weren’t going to help us in our long-term plans,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday. “We feel we’re going to be fine taking the two draft picks (as compensation for losing Dunn), and if we sign them, those two players will be more helpful to us than any players we would have acquired.”
The players the Nationals drafted this month as compensation for the loss of Dunn were hard-throwing 6-foot-9 Kentucky pitcher Alex Meyer and left-handed-hitting outfielder Brian Goodwin, who played with Ozney Guillen at Miami-Dade Junior College and was a Sox draft pick in 2009.
Jackson’s ERA since joining the Sox is considerably lower than it was during his time in Arizona (5.16) or his career ERA (4.60).
“I’ve learned from (pitching coach) Don Cooper to just trust your stuff,” Jackson said. “I don’t compare myself to anything else.”
Twitter @MDGonzales
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