Written by Greg Fertel
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13 June 2007
- Age: 20
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 205 lbs
- Acquired: Drafted 8th Round in 2005 out of High School
- Position: Centerfield
- Bats: Right
Scouting Report: The Yankees drafted Jackson as the rawest of raw athletes, beginning to scout him at the tender age of 12. He is very fast, although not blindingly so. At the plate, Jackson has an inside out swing to right field that isn't ever going to generate more power than we see in a guy like Derek Jeter, but should allow him to hit for average pretty well, but more on that later. He has an above average arm in center, although it wouldn't profile well in left or right. Jackson had some problems efficiently tracking down fly balls last season despite his speed, but has improved this year and may eventually profile as a plus defender in center. He takes walks fairly well, but has had serious strike out problems over the past two years.
History: The Yankees lured Jackson away from a basketball scholarship at Georgia Tech with an 800,000 dollar bonus, setting a record for an 8th round pick. The Yankees would later break that record with
Dellin Betances. He was sent to the Gulf Coast League - where he shined on a team with Jose Tabata and C.J. Henry by hitting .304/.374/.405 with 26 strikeouts and 18 walks in 40 games. A lot of teams would be ecstatic with that kind of performance out of a raw 18 year old, but the Yankees were not. Feeling that he would never hit for significant power the way he was swinging, they began to adjust his swing. Jackson played more basketball than baseball in high school, so the Yankees decided to take their malleable material and mold it their way. He spent 2006 struggling with a new swing intended for him to hit for more power, which he did, but at the cost of his contact ability. He hit .260/.340/.346 with 151 strikeouts against 61 walks in 134 games. The Yankees decided to keep him at Charleston for another year.
This Season: Jackson came back to Charleston with the goal of cutting down on his strikeouts without losing production. He was having a lot of trouble making contact on breaking pitches. So far, the results have been mixed. He's gone through streaks where he cut his strikeout rate down to 2005 levels, but then lapsed back into striking out. Overall, the batting line is an improved .276/.349/.398, and .301/.380/.429 with 35 strikeouts and 20 walks in 40 games since May 1st. That's improvement.
Outlook and Movement: Austin Jackson is not going to be a fast mover. He's a project and the Yankees are very happy to keep him in Charleston to get straightened out. He'll spend most of the season there, though they may want to get his feet wet in Tampa by the end. I'd expect to see pretty stark month-by-month improvements out of Jackson as the season moves on, like we all saw with his defense last season. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things in professional sports to do, and Austin is relatively new to the act.
Ranking: I think that Austin has a ton of potential in him. Jackson has consistently posted a BABIP above .348 at every stop in the minors so far. Why? His extreme opposite field swing on fly balls gets him a lot of hits in front of the right fielder, and should eventually get him a lot of doubles there too. He's posted strong line drive rates in the past, and is getting very good at hitting hard ground balls to the left side. Essentially, he should be able to hit around .300 once he tones down the strikeouts a little. Combine that with a good walk rate and we have ourselves a .300/.375/.450 hitter in center. Now, he has a long way to go and could easily reverse the progress that he's shown, but I like his chances.
