SPECIAL TO SPORTSNET.CA
By Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb(@simon_shargot)
DUNEDIN, Fla. – One year as a professional pitcher has made Justin Jackson fall back in love with baseball.
If you saw the smile on the 25-year-old’s face, and the pep in his step bouncing around the Toronto Blue Jays minor league complex at spring training last week, you wouldn’t even guess that Jackson is only entering year two of his pitching career.
The right-hander was originally drafted by the Blue Jays as a shortstop in 2007, and has come to spring training in 2014 as a man on a new mission, while still learning his new baseball philosophy.
“I kind of feel like I’m back to being a little leaguer again,” Jackson said. “I smile more, and I enjoy what I do more.”
Jackson is smiling for good reason.
After the 2012 season, he was a five-year minor league veteran with a career .230 average, barely hanging on to a double-A utility job. Jackson committed to the switch after that season, and went all the way back to A-ball for 2013.
Today, with a full year on the mound now under his belt, and a 3.26 ERA across two minor league levels, the former infielder came to Florida without the sense of the unknown following him around.
Over his last season, the righty developed his mentality as a pitcher – “(I) try to go to war on the mound, literally.” Being prepared mentally, he notes, means everything else will fall into place. Jackson compared his mental transition to a sculptor working with a brand new mold of clay.
“Being brand new at pitching (last year), I had a brand new mold,” he said. “So I was able to shape it any way that I wanted.
“I really wanted to start (learning) the mental side before the physical. That ended up making my physical work better because I was in the right mindset.”
This positive mindset has not gone unnoticed by those around Jackson, as they watch him become a pitcher. Jackson’s former coach at T.C. Roberson High School in North Carolina, Tom Smith, immediately pointed to his former player’s attitude as a sign of future success.
“Justin has never taken a shortcut in his work,” said Smith, now the head baseball coach at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. “He has jumped into this change with a great attitude and work ethic.
“I think he will continue to progress through the system, learning more about his new position.”
Jackson heads into spring training and his 2014 minor league schedule knowing exactly what to work on. He’s looking to be more consistent with his mechanics and sharpen some individual pitches. He openly admits that he’s got a long way to go, and that’s just fine by him.
“Every time out it’s a learning experience,” Jackson said. “You’re going to get your face kicked in sometimes. I don’t take that as a bad thing because I need that.”
What is clear to anybody who sees him on the diamond is that Jackson, the former first-round pick who was relegated to experiment after 2012, is a new man and having fun at the ballpark for the first time in years. He’s even enjoying those daily tasks that most pitchers can’t stand.
“Today we were all in the outfield shagging flies, and you know pitchers don’t like shagging,” Jackson said. “And I’m just like, man, I’m standing out here in the sun enjoying my life.
“I can’t complain about any of that, man. I love it.”
