Jackson Returns to Team

Edwin Jackson rejoined the Dodgers on Tuesday after completing a three-week rehabilitation assignment with triple-A Las Vegas. But how the Dodgers plan to use the right-hander remained unclear.

Although Manager Jim Tracy said he was hesitant to immediately use Jackson, who had walked 14 in 12 1/3 innings during four rehabilitation outings, pitching coach Jim Colborn proclaimed Jackson “ready to go” after working his way back from a strained right forearm.

“It’s very difficult to bring a 20-year-old kid into a game if you’re wondering whether he’s going to throw strikes,” Tracy said. “This is not the time of the year to have to sit here and sort out that type of information and make a decision in a close game.”

By contrast, Colborn said he was “dying” to get Jackson on the mound, which the pitching coach said could happen as soon as a couple of days.

Ironically, Jackson said his erratic performances were the result of a change in his delivery made to improve his command after suffering his arm injury July 3 against the Angels. In his four rehabilitation outings, Jackson had a 9.49 earned-run average.

“It’s like taking training wheels off a bike for the first time,” Jackson said. “When you first do it, it’s not going to be right there. But as you do it more, you get used to it and more comfortable with it.”

The Dodgers are no longer concerned with Jackson’s velocity after his fastball reached 97 mph Sunday in his final rehab start, and the right-hander said he was no longer worried about his forearm because he has been pitching pain-free.

But Tracy said Jackson didn’t look as impressive as he did last season even before his injury, except for a few innings.

“I’m anxious to see what he looks like now, because I remember what he looked like last September against the Arizona Diamondbacks,” Tracy said, referring to Jackson’s major league debut, in which he gave up four hits and one run in six innings. “He didn’t look the same against Milwaukee.”

Jackson gave up three hits and one run in five innings June 2 against the Brewers. He walked three and struck out three.

*

Brad Penny threw off a mound for the first time since Aug. 8, when he charged off the Dodger Stadium mound in the first inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies wincing in pain from a strained right biceps.

But Tracy acknowledged that Penny’s lengthy absence probably would limit him to pitching in relief if he were able to return before the end of the regular season.

“It’s a very difficult thing to take a guy that you would send out there to start a game with the understanding that he would only be able to go two or three innings,” Tracy said.

*

The Dodgers recalled outfielder Chin-Feng Chen and infielders Antonio Perez and Joe Thurston from Las Vegas in their final call-ups of the season. The team also purchased the contract of infielder Jose Flores from Las Vegas, making room for him on the 40-man roster by moving pitcher Darren Dreifort to the 60-day disabled list. None of the call-ups is expected to contribute much beyond bunting or pinch-running, Tracy said.