Washington Nationals’ Edwin Jackson to throw in third game in absence of Stephen Strasburg-MLB
Washington Nationals will be facing a shortage of options with regard to finding the best pitchers for throwing in their crucial playoffs matches.
With their most successful pitcher in the regular season Stephen Strasburg shut-down, they will be sending Edwin Jackson on the mound as starter against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third game of the National League Division Series.
Jackson is capable of helping the Nationals through the pressure cooker games but his recent form has not been impressive.
He has leaked runs and has struggled to win matches for the team.
Understandably, the intensity of the pressure in the playoffs will be high and producing an ideal show on the mound will not be easy for him.
He will be looking to focus on the match as opposed to thinking unnecessarily and ending up hurting his confidence.
In particular the Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson will be having a special conversation with him. He will try his best to make sure Jackson steps on the mound with a positive approach and throws a great number of scoreless innings.
Johnson at the moment confronts the problem of having most of his players unfamiliar to the pressure of the playoffs.
Apart from few exceptions, most of their batters in the line-up have never experienced playing in the post-season and putting up better performances.
In light of this, Johnson will also be thinking about the offence besides the pitchers.
He will be hoping that the batters like Bryce Harper and Michael Morse step up at the plate on a regular basis.
As far as Jackson is concerned, he will see Chris Carpenter throwing on the other end of the mound for the Cardinals.
Carpenter was critical to the Cardinals’ success last year and in this regard he has the advantage of having experienced the pressure of big games.
Carpenter is surprised after getting a call for throwing in such an important game.
"Everybody knows that it wasn't supposed to happen," Carpenter said. "I put a lot of work into it, to hopefully have this opportunity. I didn't know if I was going to have this opportunity or not - and fortunately, I do."
As the third game of the NLDS starts, it will be interesting to see how Jackson handles the pressure and pitches his innings.
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