Zach

Jackson

Jackson went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a spot on Oakland’s 40-man roster. The 29-year-old righty was limited to just 19 relief appearances last year due to injury.

Jackson was hit hard this spring after missing most of last season due to a flexor strain. The 29-year-old former high-leverage specialist will open the year back in the minors as extra organizational depth.

Jackson was limited to 18 innings last season by a flexor tendon strain and then appendix surgery. With a 2.86 ERA in 66 innings the last two years, he’s one of the candidates to pick up saves for the A’s in the early going. Still, his combination of being quite wild and extremely flyball heavy is a bad one.

Jackson has been out since mid-May due to a right flexor tendon strain and will likely require a couple weeks of rehab outings before he’s an option for Oakland’s high-leverage mix.

Jackson can still return right after the All-Star break, so this doesn’t change anything for him. He’s on the IL with a strained flexor tendon.

Jackson has been on the shelf since mid-May due to a right flexor tendon strain and will likely need a couple weeks to build up his arm strength before returning to Oakland’s closing mix.

It’s clear that Jackson won’t be back before the All-Star break. He was looking like Oakland’s best reliever before going down, amassing a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings.

Not good. Jackson is likely to wind up missing at least 4-6 weeks, even if he managed to avoid surgery. There should be a clearer timeline for his recovery sometime this weekend. The recently-acquired Lucas Erceg will join the active roster on Friday.

Jackson’s first save wasn’t a easy one. He allowed a single to Michael Massey before hurling a wild pitch, allowing Massey to scamper to second base. After getting back-to-back outs, he walked MJ Melendez before getting Bobby Witt Jr. to ground out to end the threat. The 28-year-old has a 2.25 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, but with the lack of save opportunities, fantasy managers should look elsewhere for reliable saves on the waiver wire.

Jackson came on to record the final out of the eighth inning with the Athletics clinging to a one-run lead and wound up surrendering a game-tying homer to with one out in the ensuing frame. It was his first blown save of the season. There simply haven’t been enough save chances this season for the Athletics for fantasy managers to speculate on their closing situation.