Former Blue Jays fan favorite joins MLB Draft League as pitching coach

Earlier this year, former Blue Jays reliever Jay Jackson officially announced his retirement from MLB.

It didn't take long for him to announce what's next.

On Tuesday, Jackson confirmed an announcement that he had accepted a role as a pitching coach of the West Virginia Black Bears in the MLB Draft League.

Jay Jackson joins MLB Draft League as pitching coach

The 37-year-old Jackson pitched in 104 MLB games across his six-year MLB career, and is perhaps best known for his strong stint with the Blue Jays.

He pitched with Toronto in 2023 and went a stellar 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. He finished that year with a walk rate of just 7.8% along with strikeout rate of 23.3%.

The Blue Jays didn't offer him a contract after the season, so he became a fr he joined the Twins in 2024 and didn't have much success, as he had a 7.52 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.

He finished his career with a 4.43 ERA across 113 2/3 MLB innings with the Padres, Brewers, Giants, Braves, Blue Jays and Twins.

He'll now take the experience and knowledge he gained across his career to the MLB Draft League.

The MLB Draft League is a six-team baseball league featuring a split-season amateur-professional format. The first half of the MLB Draft League season features Draft-eligible players aiming to improve their stock ahead of the annual MLB Draft in July.

The League switches to a professional format in the second half, with paid players comprising the six rosters.

Jackson is joining the West Virginia Black Bears, who play their home games at Kendrick Family Ballpark in Morgantown.

Jackson will be the pitching coach under manager Jonathan Nunnally, who will be in his first season with the Black Bears.

Nunnally was most recently the pitching coach for the Altoona Curve (the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates), and was taken in the third round of the 1992 MLB Draft by the then-Cleveland Indians.

This will be Jackson's first coaching experience since he retired earlier this year. Jackson revealed earlier this year that he had some interest in returning to the Blue Jays this year, but the team didn't offer him a contract, which is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why he ended up retiring.

But ackson couldn't stay away from the game for too long, as evidenced by him already moving into a coaching role less than two months after offically retiring.

The MLB Draft League features a plethora of players who are solid draft prospects, and it's not hard to imagine the Black Bears' pitchers excelling under Jackson's tutelage.