Misjudging Luke Jackson – Atlanta Braves’ most underrated players
By Seth Carter
A look at some of the Atlanta Braves’ most underrated players. Today we look at Luke Jackson.
Last season Luke Jackson was thrust into the closer’s role by attrition. Injuries and ineffectiveness struck the Atlanta Braves hard. Jackson ended up leading the team with 18 saves but ran into some very unfortunate luck as balls continuously bounced over infielder’s heads and he gave up a few too many home runs.
Fans were relieved when the front office made a flurry of deadline moves to bring in reliable bullpen relief. While we needed the depth, Jackson perhaps took the unwarranted brunt of fans’ frustrations.
The fact is, Jackson was thrust into a very important position for the Braves in 2019 and was electric. He had some bad luck mixed in and the results might be a bit distorted by perception.
Let’s take a look at how our leading closer from 2019 – and yes: he did have the most saves on the club with 18 – really performed.
Of relievers with at least 50 innings pitched in 2019, Jackson was 24th (out of 149) in FIP, one spot below Will Smith. Jackson posted a 3.24 FIP while Smith finished with a 3.23.
Will Smith was signed to a three-years at $13 million per year this off-season by the Braves. He was regarded as one of the game’s best closer the past couple of seasons in San Francisco.
Out of that same group, Jackson was 14th in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.13, the Braves’ shiny new acquisition, Will Smith finished 12th with a 13.22 K/9.
Jackson finished tied for 26th in WAR in the same group, among those tied with Jackson was…You guessed it! Will Smith.