NEW YORK – Luke Jackson, sidelined for the season by Tommy John surgery, lost his salary arbitration hearing with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Jackson was awarded the team’s $3.6 million offer rather than his $4 million request by Richard Bloch, Scott Buchheit and Robert Herzog, who heard the case a day earlier.
A 30-year-old right-hander who earned $1.9 million last year, Jackson had surgery on April 13 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm’s elbow.
No statistics or evidence from after March 1 are admissible other than contract and salary comparisons in arbitration hearings this year, timing set when Major League Baseball and the players’ association agreed to the deal that ended the owners’ lockout. Arbitration hearings usually are held during the first three weeks of February, but they were delayed by the work stoppage.
Jackson posted 18 saves in 2019 and had served as a top setup man the past two years for Atlanta’s bullpen. He was 2-2 with a career-best 1.98 ERA in 71 games in 2021, helping the Braves win their first World Series title since 1995. He did not surrender an earned run in three World Series appearances against the Houston Astros, allowing one hit in 3 2/3 innings.