logo
Checking in with former Blue Jays reliever Jay Jackson and his post-playing endeavours
alt
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Evan Stack
Jun 16, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 16, 2025, 07:27 EDT
Comments
After retiring from professional baseball earlier this season, former Blue Jays reliever Jay Jackson has found his calling as a mentor on and off the baseball field.
Jackson was a member of a deep, talented bullpen that the Blue Jays put together in 2023, a group that included the likes of Jordan Hicks, Jordan Romano, Tim Mayza, Génesis Cabrera, Erik Swanson, and Yimi García. Jackson was one of seven relievers to post an ERA under 3.00 with a minimum of 20 appearances for the Jays. As a unit, they posted a 3.68 ERA, good for fifth-best in the American League and eighth-best in the majors. To Jackson, this was healthy competition.
“We all complemented each other so well. Everybody brought something so different to the table to a certain degree, and we all fed off each other,” Jackson said, speaking to Blue Jays Nation. “It’s a healthy competition when you have your brothers around you doing well. It’s kind of like an older brother-younger brother kind of thing.
“That ultimately helps and leads to the team having more success because we’re all just doing our jobs and going out there and being successful.”
For Jackson in particular, he had one of the best seasons of his MLB career with the Blue Jays, posting a 2.12 ERA in 29 2/3 innings with a 0.910 WHIP, 5.5 H/9, and 8.2 K/9. Jackson was very successful with his slider, the pitch he threw most often. Opposing hitters hit just .116 with a .261 slugging percentage against the slider, as well as whiffing 35.4% of the time. In his first 16 appearances that season, a solo home run from Aaron Judge was the only knock that Jackson allowed to cross home plate.
In that same period, he allowed just nine hits and six walks alongside 20 strikeouts and a 65% strike-throwing rate.
“I think it was just the situations that [John] Schneider and Pete [Walker] were putting me in a lot of times. They were putting all of us in really good situations where we could be as successful as possible,” Jackson said in response to what was working best for him that season. “Me, in particular, I was finally healthy, and that played a huge part for me because all the years that I’ve really played healthy, I think I’ve had really good numbers and I’ve shown that I can play with anybody.”
Although all games count as the same, Jackson had one of the more memorable outings of the season during a Monday night tilt against the Dodgers in July.
He was called upon to pitch the 9th inning of a 3-3 game, and his three-batter assignment was Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. Jackson proceeded to toss a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout, giving manager John Schneider a reason to send him out for the 10th. Even with a ghost runner present, Jackson pitched another scoreless frame, and the baseball gods rewarded him as the winning pitcher of record.
“Those are the moments you live for and you have the most fun,” Jackson recalled. “It’s kind of bittersweet because it was kind of a big stage, but at the same time, nobody’s ever got to see me in America really on a big stage, whereas in Japan I’ve been doing that kind of thing a lot and I’ve done it in Mexico a lot, and I’ve done it in Venezuela a lot, so it was kind of cool that people in America got to see me do it.
“The way our season was going, if I gave our team a chance, we were going to win.”
The Blue Jays designated Jackson for assignment on the final day of the 2023 regular season to make room for Wes Parsons to start the final contest, pushing the regular starters to the postseason, and he would sign with the Minnesota Twins during the following offseason. Although his numbers weren’t at the same level that year as they were the previous year in Toronto, Jackson had been pitching through injury all season. He received a PRP injection to his left knee and right shoulder, and he wouldn’t be cleared to finish rehab until January of 2025.
Jackson had signed to go play in Mexico for the 2025 season, but before he travelled there to continue playing, he decided to retire. The decision to do so concluded a 17-year professional career that included stops in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Venezuela. Across all levels and leagues, he accrued an 82-78 record with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 1,400 2/3 innings.
Following retirement, Jackson stepped right into the coaching world, taking the reins as the pitching coach for the West Virginia Black Bears of the MLB Draft League. Although the league itself is still very young, the Black Bears have won the MLB Draft League Championship twice during the first four seasons that the league has been active. They are managed by Jon Nunnally, a former MLB outfielder who played for the Royals, Reds, Red Sox, and Mets.
“The guys that I have this year are a lot of high school and college guys, so this year, I’m going to be trying to teach them how to be the best versions of themselves going forward. Even if they get drafted, there’s chance that these guys don’t make it to the big leagues,” Jackson said on his role this season. “I definitely want them to have these principles that I’m leaving with them now, not only baseball, but with life to be the best versions of themselves.”
The Black Bears lead the Draft League with a 6-2 record thus far, including a league-best +24 run differential. Although it’s early on, their pitching staff is led statistically by starter Sam Cozart, an 18-year-old out of Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, NC. Through his first two starts, Cozart has allowed only two earned runs with 15 strikeouts versus just one walk.
While Jackson is looking to influence the next generation of pitchers as a coach, he has also started a mentorship business known as “The S.M.I.L.E. Zone“. Initially, an idea that was brought to him by a parent, Jackson has given athletes an opportunity to reach out once a week to his team and either discuss their latest start, vent, or much more about a certain theme for the week. His team currently features several ex-professional baseball players, including Taylor Motter and Jaylin Davis.
Jackson is a first-class example of how to be a great person on and off the baseball field, and it’s something he has taken strides to pass along to the next generation.

Featured

Editorials

Breaking News