After Jackson's ragged start, Nationals face rotation dilemma

When the Nationals suddenly found themselves in need of a No. 5 starter during the All-Star break, they turned to an old friend. Edwin Jackson, who had recently returned to the organization for which he pitched five years earlier, was performing well at Triple-A Syracuse and was a logical replacement for the injured Joe Ross.

And when Jackson proceeded to dominate the Angels over seven sparkling innings last week in Anaheim, the Nationals might have tempted to believe their back-of-the-rotation dilemma was solved.

Jackson, though, has made 277 major league starts over the last 15 seasons, wearing the uniforms of 12 different franchises. He has firmly established at this point who he is: a durable right-hander with the stuff to put together quality starts every once in a while but the inconsistent command to make those quality starts something less than a routine occurrence.

So anyone who wasn't shocked by Jackson's seven innings of one-run ball last week couldn't have been shocked by tonight's ragged start: seven runs in five innings during an 8-0 shellacking at the hands of the Brewers.

Seven days after needing only 91 pitches to complete seven innings, Jackson needed 112 just to make it through five.

"It wasn't necessarily one pitch," he said. "I think it was just, I need to do a better job of making adjustments. Do a better job of attacking the strike zone as I did the first game, put pressure on the batters instead of working behind the 8-ball, which can come back to hurt you."

Though he navigated his way through the evening's first three innings with only one run crossing the plate, Jackson's poor command raised his pitch count to 69. Then came a distressing top of the fourth, one that might have ended sooner had Ryan Zimmerman not made a wild throw to Daniel Murphy covering first base on a routine sacrifice bunt.

"I just needed to lead him more, or just wait till he gets to the base," said Zimmerman, who has 10 errors (most among all major league first basemen). "Had plenty of time. Edwin was throwing the ball great. Just throw the ball to Murph and you never know what's going to happen. Obviously that one is on me."

Jackson still had an opportunity to escape the inning with minimal damage. But he left a 1-2 fastball up to Travis Shaw and then watched as the Brewers third baseman launched it to center field for a three-run homer.

"Our job as the pitcher, sometimes we have to pick our teammates up," Jackson said. "They pick us up sometimes. And it's a game of picking each other up. I still think I was in a position to get out of that inning. I had a count, a 1-2 count, which you want as a pitcher in that position. I think it's just a matter of making a pitch. If I make one pitch on that 1-2 count, then it's a different scenario. It's a different ballgame that we're talking about there. It's a 2-0 ballgame going into the fifth."

Instead, it was a 5-0 ballgame. And it quickly became a 7-0 ballgame when both Eric Thames and Manny Piña homered in the top of the fifth, leaving the rest of the Nationals to play out the string in a lost cause.

"His pitch count got up high," manager Dusty Baker said. "He didn't have the command he had last time. He was wild high and away. The home runs didn't help. But after guys would reach base they would get a walk or a base hit. It was a rough night for Edwin tonight."

And so the question now becomes whether there will be more nights for Jackson in D.C. For now, the answer is yes.

"Sure," Baker said. "He's not on a pitch-by-pitch performance-type thing. That could happen to anybody. Sure. I don't see why not."

The potential "why not" in this equation would be a trade by general manager Mike Rizzo, who may feel the need to fortify his rotation before next week's non-waiver deadline. Perhaps the need for a better No. 5 starter isn't that great for a team that has an elite rotation in the top four slots, but Stephen Strasburg's early exit Sunday due to a nerve impingement in his right forearm could change the organization's plan.

If the Nationals have reason to worry Strasburg could miss time because of this ailment, they suddenly find themselves with only three proven, quality starters. That won't cut it.

For now, Strasburg is on track to make his scheduled start Saturday against the Rockies. And Jackson is in line to start Sunday's series finale. The trade deadline comes Monday.

In other words, this could be a critical weekend to determine the composition of the Nationals rotation for the remainder of the season.