Was Dodgers RHP Andre Jackson Tipping Pitches Against Cubs?

The Dodgers lost 8-2 to the Cubs on Friday night, falling to 7-7 on the season. The game was closer than the final score indicates with LA trailing only a run heading into the 8th inning. Things fell apart quickly from there.

Over the next 2 innings, righty reliever Andre Jackson allowed 5 runs, 4 on home runs. He gave up 6 hits. It made Dave Roberts question things after the game.

“Andre’s been throwing the baseball well for us and you know, it seemed like they were on everything and we got to dig in — I don’t know if he was tipping the pitches or what, but they were just on too many pitches. We’ve got to clean some things up but no excuse. He’s got to be better too.”

Ahead of Saturday’s game, Doc confirmed they found something.

Andre tipping, is a sigh of relief. He wasn’t fooling any Cubs hitters on Friday, his second outing in 3 appearances giving up 3 runs or more. Now there’s an explanation.

After throwing 55 pitches, he should be down for a game or two which gives the team time to dive in to the video and work on an adjustment.

Approached after last night’s game, a dejected Jackson struggled to find words to explain what went wrong. Mostly he put the blame on himself.

“It comes in waves. May be some tipping in there. I definitely left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate.”

After a tough 2022 season where he battled with his confidence down at Triple-A, Roberts was asked if he felt this could shake the 26-year-old.

“I don’t think so. I hope not. You know, you get hit in the mouth and you’ve got to respond. It’s not an easy league and he didn’t make a lot of good pitches.

Coming off Thursday’s game off, the bullpen is mostly fresh and ready to go out and try to get the series back on track.

With Jackson down and the Dodgers without a long reliever in the bullpen, they’ll need rookie right-hander Michael Grove to pitch a bit deeper than he has so far this season.