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It's way too early to give up on Austin Jackson
The idea that after 19 games, Austin Jackson should be dropped out of the lead off spot, or in the opinion of some fans, placed in the minor leagues, is ridiculous.
This is a very short portion of the season. Last season, Jackson went through similar slumps and recovered. He provides the Tigers with their only real speed, and is easily their best defensive outfielder. That alone helps them win games.
The major leagues is a constant game of adjustments. You have to let your best players make those adjustments, and in the roles they are needed.
And make no mistake about it, Jackson is one of the Tigers' best players.
If those goes into June, and the team is getting clobbered, that's a different story. But it's still April, the Tigers are very much in the American League Central race. And if they have a chance to win it, they must have the patience to let Austin Jackson, their one young position player with a legitimately high ceiling, figure it out.
This is a very short portion of the season. Last season, Jackson went through similar slumps and recovered. He provides the Tigers with their only real speed, and is easily their best defensive outfielder. That alone helps them win games.
The major leagues is a constant game of adjustments. You have to let your best players make those adjustments, and in the roles they are needed.
And make no mistake about it, Jackson is one of the Tigers' best players.
If those goes into June, and the team is getting clobbered, that's a different story. But it's still April, the Tigers are very much in the American League Central race. And if they have a chance to win it, they must have the patience to let Austin Jackson, their one young position player with a legitimately high ceiling, figure it out.
Labels: Austin Jackson Tigers
posted by Pat Caputo at
12:11 PM
11 Comments:
I agree with your general sentiment (sending him to the minor leagues would be a major overreaction at this point), but right now he's looking so hopeless at the plate that I think it'd probably help the team to move him to 9th for the time being.
He can still act as a second leadoff man from the 9 hole, and we still have his great defense, but we don't need to worry about him regularly not setting the table.
If he starts hitting again I'd move him back to leadoff no problem, but at the moment he's definitely in a slump and isn't showing any signs of getting out of it anytime soon. He's looking like he's in more of a Boesch 2nd half type slump than any slump he experienced last year.
Pat,
You conveniently ignore that this lineup has several issues that amplify Jackson's struggles. They have a very streaky Boesch and Raburn,- guys that pitchers tend to figure out. A nice guy in Ordonez but he is probably washed up, Martinez is hurt, Peralta-who knows?
I mentioned in a post to you in spring training that long-term the lineup was very suspect. Now it is starting to show. Way too much emphasis is placed on pitching by this organization and now there are rumors that they may trade Daniel Fields for a veteran. If they do that the cycle of not developing positional talent continues.
Alan
baseball is a game of streaks...those that happen at the beginning of the season seem somehow magnified. when we see teams over or underachieving early (bosox, indians, royals) it's more readily accepted that their true level of performance will be revealed over the season. somehow seems harder to accept when individual players are slumping. really, there's only so much a manager can do to jumpstart a hitter before demotion...bench, change spot in order, more time with hitting coach. leyland has tried them all. at this point, they just have to wait and hope that he can find his stroke.
If this were a recent occurrence, you'd be right. But really Jackson is just picking up where he left off last September. His defense makes him an asset, for sure. But the Tigers need to drop him down to the bottom of the order. His speed is impressive, but he's always struck out too much to be the answer at lead off.
I agree that Jackson should be given a chance to "work it out'". Is the Toledo hitting coach better than McClendon? He wohuld just have to return to face big league stuff. Many of his hits last year were infield hits. This year ,not so much. For him to go to the next level he will have to learn to protect the plate. with 2 strikes in the count. He gets called out way too much, especially for a lead-off hitter.
Dave
Michael C,
Jackson got some hits over the weekend and is showing signs of coming out of it. The Tigers don't have any good options at leadoff. I'd leave him there.
Caputo
Alan,
The lineup looked a lot better this weekend. We'll see if they can keep it up.
Caputo
Woody,
That was my point exactly. Such slumps are not unusual for even the best hitters. In 1956 and 1957, as a young player, Al Kaline hit .195 and .202 in April. He ended up hitting .314 and .295 those years.
Caputo
Anonymous,
Austin Jackson is far from a finished product. He is still going through growing pains as a player. He is still two years away from his prime. Tigers need to show some patience with him. I believe they will.
Caputo
Dave,
It's not the coaching, it's seeing the type of pitching. Triple-A pitchers aren't capable of exploiting his weaknesses. So what would he be working on at Triple-A?
Caputo
I agree now, Pat. He had a good weekend and it's looking like he's coming out of it. I didn't see many signs before that.
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