Griffin Jax News: Dominant after early struggles

Jax threw a scoreless eighth inning with a walk in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Rays. He has a 3.86 ERA with 18 holds in 37.1 innings this season.

It was a rare appearance for Jax without a strikeout, as he has an eye-popping 61:9 K:BB and 39.1 percent strikeout rate. After early struggles (10 earned runs in his first eight innings) that saw him briefly demoted to lower-leverage work, Jax has a 1.84 ERA since April 22 and has been the primary set-up man to closer Jhoan Duran. Unlike previous seasons, manager Rocco Baldelli has mostly kept Duran in the ninth inning instead of deploying him in higher-leverage spots earlier in the game, limiting Jax's save opportunities.