Rotation Spot Is Jackson’s to Lose

Edwin Jackson made such a strong impression in his first three major league starts last September that, three weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, Dodger Manager Jim Tracy has penciled the 20-year-old right-hander into his starting rotation.

“After how he performed last year, in the circumstances we exposed him to, he would have to pitch his way out of the rotation in spring training” to not make the opening-day roster, Tracy said Wednesday.

“I like him as the No. 5 starter. That’s the right spot for a 20-year-old kid, a spot where we can control his environment some. But he will not be on this team coming out of spring training as a bullpen guy, because his development is way too important to start considering him as a long reliever or middle-relief guy.”

Jackson, the Dodgers’ top minor league prospect whose fastball has been clocked at 98 mph, was called up from double-A Jacksonville to replace injured Hideo Nomo in the rotation Sept. 9.

On his 20th birthday, in his big league debut, with the Dodgers in the thick of the National League wild-card race and facing Arizona ace Randy Johnson in Bank One Ballpark, Jackson gave up one run and four hits in six innings, struck out four and walked none in a 4-1 victory.

Jackson made two more starts and one relief appearance in September, going 2-1 with a 2.45 earned-run average in the four appearances. Tracy said Nomo, Odalis Perez, Jeff Weaver and Kazuhisa Ishii probably would fill the first four rotation spots, and he expects Wilson Alvarez and Darren Dreifort, if he recovers fully from knee surgery, to compete with Jackson for the fifth spot.

Tracy hopes the presence of Jackson and Alvarez, who would fill a long relief role if he doesn’t win a rotation spot, will give the oft-injured Dreifort the luxury of rehabilitating his right knee at a reasonable pace.

“I want to give Darren every opportunity to feel very good about himself physically,” Tracy said.

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Tracy is confident right-hander Guillermo Mota, who went 6-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 76 games last season, will be a capable eighth-inning replacement for setup man Paul Quantrill, who signed with the New York Yankees. Right-hander Paul Shuey and left-hander Tom Martin will also play prominent relief roles in front of closer Eric Gagne.

Tracy believes 24-year-old left-hander Steve Colyer, who bounced back and forth between the big leagues and triple-A last season, has the potential to claim a spot.

“There’s no doubt he can get left-handers and right-handers out,” Tracy said of Colyer, who had a 2.75 ERA in 13 big league games in 2003. “What we have to find out is whether he’ll be consistent enough with his delivery to not pitch behind in the count. When you throw 95-97 mph, you have a chance. If you can get it over the plate consistently, your chances of succeeding increase dramatically.”

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General Manager Dan Evans has also interviewed former Seattle, Milwaukee and Chicago Cub manager Jim Lefebvre for the team’s vacant batting instructor job. Lefebvre, a former Dodger who was the NL rookie of the year in 1965, joins Tim Wallach, Dwayne Murphy and Bob Mariano as finalists for the position.