Jay Jackson has reportedly signed with the Minnesota Twins

The Blue Jays signed Jackson to a minor-league contract last January and he earned a spot on the team’s 40-man roster following an excellent performance in Spring Training. He wound up posting a 2.12 ERA over 29 2/3 appearances while striking out 27 batters and walking nine, a very impressive performance considering the difficult circumstances that Jackson faced.

Being a pitcher with minor-league options, Jackson spent the first couple months of the 2023 season shuttling back and forth from Triple-A to the Majors, joining the active roster when the Blue Jays needed a fresh arm. As the season went along, Jackson earned a more permanent role at the back of Toronto’s bullpen, highlighted by a month of July when he didn’t allow a single earned run across 11 1/3 innings.

Jackson also spent a significant portion of the season travelling back and forth from wherever the Blue Jays were playing to Utah to be with his fiancee and newborn son, who was born 15 weeks premature. His ability to navigate this adversity while maintaining a positive attitude and a smile on his face made Jackson a fan favourite around Blue Jays Nation.

The Twins will be the tenth professional organization that Jackson has pitched for since being selected by the Chicago Cubs in the ninth round of the 2008 draft. He was released by the Cubs after five seasons in their system and spent time in the minors with the Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Milwaukee Brewers before making his Major League debut with the San Diego Padres in 2015.

Jackson spent the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons pitching in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp and then returned to the Brewers in 2019. He pitched with the San Francisco Giants in 2021 and the Atlanta Braves in 2022 and then with the Blue Jays in 2023. All told, Jackson owns a 3.50 ERA over 84 appearances in the Majors for his career.