Became a key player in the rotation from his first year after transferring.

From this season, in his third year in Japan, he played for Chiba Lotte Marines Andre Jackson pitcher. At Yokohama DeNA, starting in his first year in Japan in 2024, he played a key role in the starting rotation and won the Outstanding Player Award in that year's Japan Series. Last season, he cleared the innings pitched requirement for the second consecutive year, recording 10 wins and a ERA of 2.33.

Although he has appeared somewhat unstable this season since joining Chiba Lotte Marines, he has started a team-leading 12 games so far. He continues to pitch strongly, recording a strike out rate higher than last season. In this article, we will unravel the pitching style of the foreign right-hander who leads the starting rotation using data.

One of the league's best fastball

The core of Jackson pitcher 's pitching is the powerful fastball, which accounts for about 40% of pitch. So far, he has recorded the second fastest average velocity in the league at 152.52 km/h, and his pitch power has increased further from last season's 151.6 km/h. In the race against Yakult on June 2, he recorded his personal fastest speed of the season at 157 km/h.

The fastball and change-up are the key to strike out.

With increased ball power, fastball functions as a swing and miss, and this season's swing miss-and-miss rate rose from 13.9% last season to 17.6%. This exceeds the league average of 16.7%. Furthermore, change-up, which has the pitch second highest rate after fastball, also maintained a high swing missed rate in the 30% range, continuing from last season. In addition to the traditional washizumi grip, this pitch is frequently thrown in the 'kick change' grip where the middle finger is raised, making it a weapon that can cause swings and misses on both sides of the hitter.

He throws a lot change-up in a tough spot.

The increase in strike out is also greatly influenced by changes in the pitching arrangement. Looking at the percentage of pitch after pushing the ball in, until last season, fastball accounted for about half, but this year that proportion has dropped to 38.9%. Instead, his change-up percentage increased by 11.2 points from last season to 31.4%, showing that his use as a finishing pitch has become more prominent. From the second strike, he began actively choosing pitches with a high missed swing rate, which seems to have contributed to the strike out increase this season.

A valuable inning eater

Additionally, this season, he has pitched over 6 inning in 9 of the 12 games he started, ranking second on the team with a innings pitched 6.06 average. During his time with Yokohama DeNA, he often left the mound after five innings, but at his new club, he led the starting rotation as the inning eater. The team's starting innings pitched has dropped to a league-worst Chiba Lotte Marines of 5.38, playing a valuable role.

Jackson pitcher has been increasing his strike out this season with fastball with increased pitching power and a change-up with a high swing rate. As a team, the ace Atsuki Taneichi pitcher has been forced into a long-term absence, and the young pitcher have not achieved the results they hoped for, so the coaching staff's expectations for the strong foreign player are high. The number 42's performance, which shows evolution in various aspects such as pitch quality and pitch management, is worth keeping an eye on going forward.

*All figures in the text and tables are as of the end of June 19, 2026.

Bun Data Stadium