{"id":8714849,"date":"2023-01-12T15:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T23:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8714849&preview=true&preview_id=8714849"},"modified":"2023-01-13T03:58:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T11:58:59","slug":"sf-giants-reliever-luke-jackson-likely-out-until-june-farhan-zaidi-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/12\/sf-giants-reliever-luke-jackson-likely-out-until-june-farhan-zaidi-says\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Giants’ reliever Luke Jackson likely out until June, Farhan Zaidi says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Giants’ sixth and most recent free-agent addition, right-handed reliever Luke Jackson, is expected to miss the start of the season and possibly be out until June, Farhan Zaidi said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jackson, 31, signed a two-year deal with a club option for a third year last week. He missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April. While Zaidi said Jackson was progressing well, “it\u2019s a possibility he starts the year on the 60-day IL,” which would render him ineligible until the start of June.<\/p>\n

“That would put him at 14 months, which for a reliever is a pretty conservative timetable,” Zaidi said. “He\u2019s doing great in his rehab, so we\u2019re going to wait and see how he\u2019s doing in spring training.”<\/p>\n

The Giants intended Jackson to be a long-term investment \u2014 he could make up to $10.5 million in the final year of his contract if San Francisco picks up his option and he reaches all his incentives \u2014 and they are proceeding as such, with caution, in his return from major reconstructive surgery.<\/p>\n

The Giants went from having the majors’ best bullpen ERA in 2021 (2.99) to the 11th-worst mark in 2022 (4.08).<\/p>\n

Adding a “versatile right-handed arm who can also mix in at the end of games and somebody who was effective against both lefties and right-handed hitters,” was near the top of the Giants’ offseason shopping list, Zaidi said, right below a high-leverage left-hander, a hole they filled with Taylor Rogers.<\/p>\n

Jackson has 19 career saves, and in 2021, he appeared in 71 games with a 1.98 ERA while helping Atlanta to a World Series championship.<\/p>\n