Atlanta Braves Trade Tyrell Jenkins and Brady Feigl to Texas for Luke Jackson

Braves Trade Jenkins & Feigl for Jackson

The trade is in!!  Well not “the” trade.  The Atlanta Braves trade right-handed pitcher Tyrell Jenkins and left-handed pitcher Brady Feigl to the Texas Rangers for right-handed pitcher Luke Jackson.

This one is actually a pretty big bummer for me…Jenkins and Feigl were both favorites of mine.  Tyrell is awesome so good with the media, fans and on social media.  Feigl was extremely nice to Tomahawk Take when we asked to do an interview with him.

Atlanta has received hard throwing relief pitcher Luke Jackson.  The 25-year-old was drafted in the 1st round of the 2010 MLB draft by the Rangers.  He was drafted straight out of high school, Calvary Christian High in Fort Lauderdale.

Braves did this because??  Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out.

Jenkins was on the Braves 40-man roster, Feigl was not.  Jackson was on the Rangers 40-man roster.  So roster-wise, this didn’t help anything.

Feigl had Tommy John Surgery on April 22, 2015 and is just getting back to being on the mound.  He appeared in six games in 2016 with the Gulf Coast Braves and the Danville Braves.  He worked his way up to Triple-A Gwinnett to start the 2015 season, but then the elbow injury happened.

The 25-year-old lefty seemed primed for a Braves bullpen spot in 2015 and then possibly again when he recovered from TJS.  Feigl was an undrafted pitcher out of Mount Saint Mary’s University.

We all saw Jenkins in 2016.  He had a hell of a year with the Braves…he was a starter, then they moved him to the bullpen, then starter again, then bullpen again.  He started eight games in Atlanta and appeared in six other games.  In 52 innings pitched, he gave up 34 earned runs, 11 homers, 33 walks and had 26 strikeouts.

While Jenkins was with the Gwinnett Braves, they were worried about him only having two pitches.  He was trying to work on another pitch when he got the call from Atlanta.

The Braves received Jenkins with the Shelby Miller package that sent Jason Heyward to the Cardinals.

Jenkins was a fan favorite as well as a great teammate.  He will be missed in the Braves organization.

As I’m clicking through the web trying to get as much information as possible about Luke Jackson, I’ve stumbled upon Shut Down Inning and an article about the Rangers draft picks in recent years…this is what they had to say about Jackson.

"Luke Jackson is back in Double-A ball, and struggling there, because his mechanics fell apart and his command with it."

Aw man, that doesn’t sound good.  Mechanics fell apart and bad command sound like a total disaster.  Maybe a change in scenery will do Jackson good, but that’s not a good combo.  I’m also seeing on another site that he suffered through a stress reaction in his lower back to start the 2016 season.

On MLB.com, they have him ranked as the Rangers 15th rated prospect.  They have him as a 70 grade fastball which clocks out at 95-100mph.  Flamethrower!

Now I’m finding juicy info!  Jackson spent the first four-plus years trying to make it as a starting pitcher, but the Rangers moved him to the bullpen because they said he wasn’t throwing “consistent strikes”.

So okay, maybe that’s it…Jackson wasn’t happy about the move to the bullpen and a change of place will get him mind back in the game.

But then I saw this from MLB.com….

"He still has yet to master the ability to throw strikes or pound the bottom of the zone, and he could become a closer if he ever figures it out"

At this point, I don’t know.  Maybe John Coppolella and friends sees him as a starting pitcher, maybe they see him as a future closer.  MAYBE they need a backup plan for the closer role because they’re about to trade one of their closers, cough cough.

We’ll see, guys.  At this point (about an hour after the deal was done), I’m not sure I see the benefit in this trade.  Other than a change of scenery for Jackson and a ray of hope at another place for Jenkins, I don’t understand it.

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While I’m sad to see both Jenkins and Feigl leave the Braves organization, this move tells me that the Braves feel as though they’ve got huge potential getting very close to the major league levels.  If you don’t have it, you’ll have to move out of the way for these other guys…because they’re coming!

Maybe Coppy is setting up the Rangers GM Jon Daniels and front office for a later trade.  Yeah, yeah, let’s go with that.

UPDATE: Braves beat writer Mark Bowman dropped this on us…

That explains a little of it then.  Jackson comes to Atlanta pretty much for Feigl and Jenkins is on a team.  So we’ll resurrect Jackson’s career while Texas enjoys Feigl.  I think he’ll come back strong and be a solid bullpen lefty.