BALTIMORE -- If Jeremiah Jackson parlays his unexpected strong first month in MLB into a long Orioles career, Thursday’s 3-2 to loss to the Red Sox may have provided a preview of his future role: A reliable right-handed platoon bat to face the game’s toughest lefties.
The 25-year-old rookie utility man collected two more hits -- including an RBI double off Red Sox southpaw ace Garrett Crochet -- to help the Orioles once again stay competitive against the AL East and Wild Card contenders.
Again, the short-handed Orioles couldn’t turn such a performance effort into a victory, succumbing to a four-game sweep for the first time since Aug. 16-19 against Tampa Bay. And it wasn’t all roses for Jackson, who followed his fifth-inning, game-tying double by making the final out with men aboard in the seventh and ninth.
Even so, for an organization with so many young present and future potential left-handed stars -- among them Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo -- Thursday may have provided some of the firmest evidence yet that Jackson could hang around beyond the final month of a disappointing season.
“We have a significant amount of guys that it’s going to take time to hit lefties at the level that we need to to hit a championship here,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “So that being said, you have to have some right-handed compliments, short sides of platoons, in order to handle days like today. So to see Jeremiah go out against one of the elite left-handed pitchers in the league with big-time stuff and do what he did, it just gives you a good feeling that he might be one of those guys in the future.”
Jackson already has seven multi-hit games since his promotion from Triple-A Norfolk on July 31, with three of those coming since Jordan Westburg’s return to the IL prompted his ascension to the No. 2 spot in the batting order.
He’s hit in eight straight games batting in front of Henderson, and on Thursday became the fifth player since the Orioles moved to Baltimore to reach 25 or more hits in his first 20 starts with the club. He’s now slashing .329/.346/.468 with 10 RBIs, though his strikeout rate (17 in 79 at-bats) will probably have to come down to stick long-term.
“It’s awesome,” Jackson said of Mansolino’s trust to bat him second. “I’m glad I’m in the lineup, period. For me it’s just trying to keep it as simple as possible, do my job. And just try to have good at-bats and play defense.”
He was also a big reason why the Orioles were able to force Crochet out of a game prior to the seventh inning for only the second time this month.
On Jackson’s first-inning at-bat, he saw five pitches before lining the sixth, a 97.5 mph fastball up in the zone, back through the middle. Two at-bats later, he hooked Crochet’s fourth-offering, a 2-1 cutter in, around the bag at third to score Alex Jackson and move Jackson Holliday to third.
“I know he’s going to try to come into the zone,” Jeremiah Jackson said of his approach against Crochet. “So, I just wanted to be ready for anything in the zone I could get a barrel on, and just be ready to go.”
Jackson has mostly played in the outfield or as a designated hitter, but in the latter stages of Thursday’s contest was shifted to third following Beavers’ eighth-inning pinch-hit appearance.
He made two plays in the ninth, the latter a tricky charging grounder off the line that resulted in a wayward throw, but allowed first baseman Luis Vázquez to apply the tag.
“It was nice to see JJ come in from right field and go to third,” Mansolino said. “One looked a little bit better than the other, but the second one was not an easy play for him, so proud of him for that.”