It’s definitely not how’s Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman envisioned it, but with ‘Necessity Being The Mother of Invention’ and all, the Dodgers appear to be one pitcher closer to actually having a five-man starting rotation.

On Monday night, having returned very early that morning from a successful 5-1 road trip to Philadelphia and New York, the Dodgers opened what will be a seven-game homestand against the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets at Dodger Stadium for three and four games, respectively with an exciting 2-1 win over the Pirates in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 48,005.

Billed as yet another ‘bullpen game’ (due to a shortage of five actual starters), manager Dave Roberts handed the ball to 24-year-old left-hander Justin Bruihl to make his first career start in only his fifth Major League appearance for what is now affectionately called “an opener.” The Petaluma, CA native who the Dodgers signed as an amateur free agent on July 15, 2017, allowed no runs and only a one-out single to the four Pirates batters he faced, doing so on 12 pitches, of which eight were for strikes.

…and then things got good.

Replacing Bruihl and making his Major League debut, having been called up earlier in the day, Roberts handed the ball to Dodgers 22nd-ranked prospect Andre Jackson who was, in a word, sensational.

All the 25-year-old Vail, AZ native, who the Dodgers drafted in the 12th round of the 2017 Draft out of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, did was allow no runs and only two hits (both singles) while walking four and striking out five in his brilliant 4.0-inning Major League debut, doing so on 71 pitches, of which 39 were for strikes.

What’s the big deal, you say?

The big deal is that Jackson began the 2021 season at Double-A Tulsa, where he posted a 3-2 record with an impressive 3.27 ERA. He was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City on July 31, where he went 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA, having struck out six of the 31 batters he faced. But what really caught the attention of Friedman and Roberts was Jackson’s filthy changeup, which he threw often in his MLB debut on Monday night.

“I don’t want to give away my secret, but I think everybody knows my changeup is my bailout pitch,” Jackson told reporters postgame. “Whenever I need to throw a strike or make the big pitch, it’s kind of what I go to. I didn’t have the greatest command today, but I was able to get back in the zone with the changeup and throw fastballs when I needed to.

“I definitely had to dog up and make some pitches there. That’s kind of when it really hit me that this is real,” Jackson added. “I’m glad I escaped with some clean innings, but I think that actually helps boost some confidence. I’d rather have it that way for the first outing – well, I guess throwing a no-no would be cool – but it gives you the confidence that you know you can make pitches in the big leagues in big situations.

“That was awesome. That was everything I wanted it to be and more,” Jackson said. “But that last pitch I threw I really felt the energy of the crowd and it was really, really awesome. I don’t even have the words.”

All of this said, when Jackson was eventually replaced in the top of the sixth inning by 25-year-old Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia, neither team had scored a run, thus taking away any possibility of him earning a win in his MLB debut. In fact, the NL Central last-place Pirates didn’t score the game’s first run until the top of the seventh, with the Dodgers tying it up in the bottom of the frame on right fielder Billy McKinney‘s first career home run.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth, when Dodgers second baseman / first baseman Max Muncy hit yet another (eventual) game-winning home run – his team-leading 26th – which landed halfway up the Right Field Pavilion in right-center field.

Play Ball!

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