Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Andre Jackson suffered through the worst performance of his professional career when he gave up 4 home runs to the Chicago Cubs in an 8-2 loss Friday night.

However, when Jackson reported to Dodgers Stadium Saturday, he refused to be downcast after the disastrous showing. Instead, he took notice of it being Jackie Robinson Day, and said he realized that he has to look at the big picture when it comes to overcoming obstacles.

“If you watched the game, you saw me give up 4 home runs. Obviously last night I was pretty upset about it. When I think about Jackie Robinson, it's actually perfect timing. Today, I get to believe in something bigger than myself.”

Robinson, the first black player in the history of Major League Baseball, endured numerous incidents of racism and insults after he broke the color barrier in the 1947 season. Compared to what Robinson went through during the early years of his career and beyond, Jackson knows he simply has to improve his on-field performance. That's clearly a much smaller burden than the one Robinson endured.

Andre Jackson has had limited experience while pitching for the Dodgers in 3 seasons. However, he had an impressive 2.31 earned run average in 11.2 innings of work in the 2021 season. He followed that up with an even better 1.86 ERA in 2022 when he had 9.2 innings.

The relief pitcher had earned a bit of confidence from the Los Angeles coaching staff, as he already has 8.1 innings in the young season. Unfortunately for Jackson, he has an 8.64 ERA while allowing 8 earned runs and 12 hits.