Taste of Major League Baseball has Jankowski eager for return to Astros
Jordan Jankowski, a 2008 Peters Township graduate, played in the major leagues with the Houston Astros.
After a Sunday game in May, Fresno Grizzlies manager Tony DeFrancesco acted frustrated with his team, the Class AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros.
He held a team meeting and ranted to his players about their effort to set the scene. He used one of the team’s relief pitchers, Jordan Jankowski, as a positive example for his hard work and dedication for the last six years in the organization.
Jankowski, a 2008 Peters Township graduate, then heard the words he had dreamed of hearing for most of his life: “You’re going to the big leagues.”
“The guys came over and jumped on top of me; they were all excited for me,” Jankowski, a 34th round draft pick in 2012, said. “It was a cool moment.”
The next 24 hours were a blur for Jankowski. He called his wife and his family, packed, took a flight to Houston and got ready for his first game as a major leaguer.
“It was definitely a crazy 24 hours,” said the 28-year-old Jankowski. “Actually, just being there didn’t set in until after the first 24 hours. It was definitely exciting after that, realizing that I finally made it.”
His debut came in a May 24 loss to Detroit.
With the Astros losing 4-2, Jankowski pitched the top of the ninth inning. Jankowski, who has consistently posted above-average strikeout rates in the minors, struck out the first two batters of the inning before giving up a triple and then a two-run home run to former all-star Jose Iglesias. He ended the inning by striking out four-time all-star Ian Kinsler.
“I threw one of the warm ups off the backstop, and it wasn’t even close to the catcher,” Jankowski said. “I was pretty nervous, but when the game started I settled down.”
Jankowski’s pitching didn’t make headlines, but his wife’s reaction to his debut did. His pregnant wife, also named Jordan, was shown crying in the stands.
“She was all over everything; she was even on ‘SportsCenter,'” Jankowski said. “It was pretty cool for her. She had every emotion you could have during the game.”
While it was his first time in the major leagues, it wasn’t his first time with the Houston Astros players, as Jankowski spent the last three spring trainings in Houston’s camp. Jankowski’s stint with Houston was short-lived, though, as he was optioned back to Fresno two days after his debut.
“I kind of had an idea that I’d be sent back down soon,” Jankowski said. “I was just trying to enjoy myself when I was there and do my job.”
When his flight landed the next day, he was called and told he was being recalled to the majors.
It didn’t take Jankowski long to find the mound again, as he came in relief two days later May 29, at Minnesota. He entered the game with two outs in the fifth inning and with the Astros losing 3-2. Astros starter Brad Peacock had already allowed three runs in the inning, and Jankowski wasn’t able to stop the bleeding. He gave up a double, a single to all-star Joe Mauer and a two-run home run to the first three batters.
After throwing a scoreless sixth inning, Jankowski allowed a solo home run in the seventh to make the score 8-2.
Houston then made history, scoring 11 runs in the eighth inning for a come-from-behind win. It was the first time in franchise history the Astros won after trailing by six or more runs entering the eighth.
Because of the offensive explosion and his ability to throw multiple innings in middle relief, Jankowski picked up his first career major league win.
“It actually turned out that after my first inning I settled in pretty nicely,” Jankowski said. “It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget.”
After that game, Jankowski was optioned back to Fresno. He was recalled again June 24 and warmed up in the bullpen the next day but didn’t get into the game. He was sent back down to Triple-A.
Jankowski is the first player from Washington or Greene County to play in the major leagues since 2001. He is the third player from Peters Township to make it to the majors, two of whom played their last season in 2001.
Chris Peters, a 1990 graduate, pitched six years in the majors for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal Expos. Brian Simmons, a 1995 graduate, played three years for the Chicago White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays as an outfielder.
Peters Township head baseball coach Joe Maize, who just finished his 33rd year with the Indians, said all three big leaguers have one similar characteristic.
“This is our third guy who has made it to the majors, and all of them were similar in that they were all extremely hard workers,” Maize said.
In high school, Jankowski pitched and played catcher. Maize remembers Jankowski most for his “amazing bat speed,” which helped him lead the WPIAL in home runs as a senior. He was named the Observer-Reporter Baseball Player of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.
Jankowski was drafted in the 34th round by the Astros out of high school, but elected to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
As a sophomore, he saved 10 games and hit eight home runs for the Redhawks. He then transferred to Division II Catawba College in North Carolina to become a starting pitcher, and was drafted for the second time by the Astros, in the 34th round, in 2012.
As difficult it is to reach the major leagues, Maize said he expected Jankowski to make it.
“I’m not surprised he made it at all,” he said.
Jankowski said while his stint was short, he learned a lot in his time in the majors.
“I need to be myself,” he said. “When I was up there, I was trying to do things that I normally don’t do. When I was doing things that I normally do I had success. Just trying to stay the same as down here (Class AAA) and do the same things that I was doing that got me to the big leagues and not trying to be somebody that I’m not.”
Sporting a four-pitch arsenal with a four-seam fastball in the low-90s, a slider he throws nearly a third of the time, a curveball and a changeup, Jankowski has established himself as one of the best strikeout pitchers in the Pacific Coast League. Last season, he struck out 103 batters in only 71 2/3 innings for a 12.9 strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio and a 3.77 ERA. This season, in 27 1/3 innings with Fresno, Jankowski has struck out nearly 11 batters per nine and has a 4.94 ERA.
The Astros are known as one of the more analytically savvy teams in baseball, and Jankowski said the organization at every level has helped him improve.
“They know what they’re talking about. Those little things have helped me get where I’ve been,” he said. “It’s just mentally, when you’re out there, how to set up different hitters. What pitches (to throw) in what scenarios and show you where you succeed within the zone or what batting averages they have within that zone. Just playing the percentages is one thing we do here.”
It’s highly likely Jankowski will be back with the Astros at some point this season. In the meantime, he said he’s going to focus on what he can improve.
“I’m just trying to stay the course and improve and get back up there,” he said.