Tribe calls Jackson, not Laffey, to start

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Tribe calls Jackson, not Laffey, to start
08/13/2008 4:15 PM ET
By Andrew Gribble / MLB.com

CLEVELAND -- Aaron Laffey has a spot waiting for him in the starting rotation. Just not at the moment.
Left-hander Zach Jackson was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday to fill the void left by Paul Byrd, who was traded to the Red Sox on Tuesday for a player to be named or cash. Jackson will start Thursday's series finale with the Orioles at Progressive Field.
On Tuesday, general manager Mark Shapiro said that whoever was called up to replace Byrd in the rotation would likely be with the club for the remainder of the season.
Considered a throw-in part of the deal that sent CC Sabathia to the Brewers in early July, Jackson has been solid over the past five weeks with the Bisons and was added to their starting rotation July 21. In eight appearances (four starts), the 25-year-old is 3-1 with a 4.05 ERA. He has struck out 20 while walking just five batters over 26 2/3 innings.
Those numbers have outmatched what he put up earlier in the season at Triple-A Nashville, where he was 1-5 with a 7.85 ERA in 22 appearances (eight starts). He was briefly recalled in May and made two appearances with the Brewers. Jackson owns a Major League lifetime record of 2-2 with a 5.36 ERA in 10 appearances, seven of which were starts.
Manager Eric Wedge had said earlier in the week that Laffey, who was demoted to Triple-A on July 26 after three months of regular starts with the Indians, will be in the Indians rotation "eventually." When Laffey was sent down, Wedge said that Laffey, 23, needed to get back to doing what he did best, which centered on getting his sinker over the plate early in counts to induce groundball outs.
In the last five starts with the Tribe before his demotion, Laffey was 1-3 with an 8.37 ERA.
In his second start with the Bisons on Saturday, Laffey tossed eight scoreless innings and allowed just four hits while striking out an uncharacteristic nine batters.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.