Pittsburgh Pirates Designate Andre Jackson for Assignment

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced their corresponding move to make room for Andrew McCutchen on the 40-man roster

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they had re-signed Andrew McCutchen for the 2024 season. Thursday evening, the corresponding move to make room for McCutchen on the 40-man roster became public. According to Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports, the Pirates have designated reliever Andre Jackson for assignment.

Stumpf added that the Pirates did this as a way to help allow Jackson pursue an opportunity to pitch in Japan. With this move, the Pirate 40-man roster still sits at 40 players. The team will need to make another move when they signing of Martín Pérez becomes official.

Jackson was acquired by the Pirates on June 25th when they sent cash considerations to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would join the Pirates on August 5th. At first, he looked like a potential diamond in the rough find by Ben Cherington.

In the month of August, Jackson pitched 24.2 innings in six appearances with the Pirates, three of which were starts. Jackson posted a 2.92 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 7.2% walk rate, and a 27.8% strikeout rate. He limited opponents to a .191 batting average and allowed just three home runs.

The month of September, plus an outing on October 1st, did not go nearly as well for Jackson. In those six outings, four of which were starts, Jackson posted a 6.16 ERA, 5.89 FIP, 14.8% walk rate, and a 17.3% strikeout rate.

All told, he pitched 43.2 innings for the Pirates in 12 games, seven of which were starts. Jackson posted a 4.33 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 10.7% walk rate, and a 23.0% strikeout rate. As a reliever, he posted a 2.78 ERA with two walks and 16 strikeouts.

Prior to this Jackson appeared to be in a position to crack the team's Opening Day roster. He was going to enter spring training out of options, which is always a factor, and he had pitched well out of the bullpen for the Bucs last season. Jackson appeared to be on his way to opening the season as a long/swing man out of the Pirate bullpen. Now, that role could fall to another pitcher who is out of options such as Max Kranick or Bailey Falter.