Edwin Jackson, late of the Dodgers, now a cog in the great Devil-Rays pitching wheel, is actually having a decent spring. Let me again stress the word decent. He’s 4.05 ERA/.149 OBA/ 13 IP/ 7 Hits/ 9:5 K:BB ratio. That’d give him a WHIP of 0.93.

The good thing about the deal that send Jackson to Tampa is that he can crack the rotation whenever the Rays’ brass think he’s ready. But, at least to me, this Jackson experiment recalls the halcyon days of Dewon Brazelton and his career 5.98 ERA. Jackson, like Brazelton, is a fastball-slider pitcher with below-average command of his 92-94 mph 4-seamer. And like Brazelton, Jackson doesn’t seem to have learned anything about pitching during the past 3 years of his minor-league/MLB sojourn. The Dodgers wouldn’t have unloaded him if they thought he at least had the potential to become a decent reliever.

Brazelton’s had 9 stops in his minor-league career; Jackson’s next demotion will be his 6th. His 8.62 ERA/1.67 WHIP/ 55 IP/ 76 Hits/ 33:37 K:BB at AAA-Las Vegas in ‘05 doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Somehow, I don’t think a fresh start is what this guy needs.

Edwin’s only 24, so there’s time to learn a third pitch, or add a 2-seam fastball. I can’t believe more people aren’t making the Jose Capellan comparisons. Capellan (according to minor league radar guns) could get it up there at 100 mph. But he lost velocity as a starter and got creamed at the MLB level. What was he throwing? A 92-94 mph 4-seamer, and a slider. Sound familiar. Now he’s a 7th-8th inning man with the Brewers and it looks like he’s found his heater. But he’s still a fastball-slider pitcher, and for an RHP that spells r-e-l-i-e-f.

Don’t be fooled by Jackson’s spring (which, by the way, isn’t over yet). Brazelton may be gone, but if Jackson goes out there with that fastball/slider combo, T-Bay fans are gonna think his ghost’s come home to the Trop.