This past Saturday Cubs prospect Brett Jackson spoke with Bruce Levine and Fred Huebner on their weekly radio show Talkin' Baseball. You can <a target="_blank" href="
">download the episode as a podcast or listen online. He's a pretty good interview, so it's worth a listen, but I wanted to post a small portion of what he had to say about what he's working on in AA with the Tennessee Smokies. For the time being, it looks like the Cubs think of him as a leadoff hitter.
I'm really trying to learn everything about being a leadoff hitter. Take that in and make that part of who I am. So far I'm really enjoying it.
Levine then asked him how he's approaching the leadoff role without losing his approach as a power hitter.
Not a lot changes. The first at-bat of the game is really a big leadoff spot, and in that at-bat I like to see a lot of pitches, which works to my advantage later in the game and puts me in a good position to get pitchers in [counts] I want to be in. I don't change a lot as far as how I swing and how I like to drive the ball and hit the gaps and even put it out of the park. I do like to battle at the plate and be a guy that gets on base, steal bags, and score runs, but at the same time I'm looking for a pitch to drive.
I don't know that there are any gigantic revelations in the interview, but he does talk about life in the minors, the prospect of getting called up, and the difference between training camps under Lou and Quade (not surprisingly, he preferred the camp where he got to play a ton and hit the crap out of the ball). The Jackson interview begins at the 1:14:00 mark of the podcast.
Thanks, AC. I’ll listen to it this evening. Looking forward to him coming to the big leagues sometime soon.
mb21Quote Reply
Won’t they have to trade Byrd or Fukudome first?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I don’t think so, RC. Fukudome has one year left and we saw under Lou how he can minimize Fukudome. Byrd only makes $5 million per year. Xavier Nady made $3.5 million last year so I don’t see the problem. Jackson has been slumping over the last 10 or so games, but still has an OPS over .900 (OBP over .400). If the Cubs are out of it in mid-June and he’s hitting as well as expected I’d be surprised if he isn’t up and playing every day.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I don’t think so, RC. Fukudome has one year left and we saw under Lou how he can minimize Fukudome. Byrd only makes $5 million per year. Xavier Nady made $3.5 million last year so I don’t see the problem. Jackson has been slumping over the last 10 or so games, but still has an OPS over .900 (OBP over .400). If the Cubs are out of it in mid-June and he’s hitting as well as expected I’d be surprised if he isn’t up and playing every day.[/quote]
He’d take Fukudome’s place at leadoff then I think. Or they’d sit Byrd because Byrd’s sucking it up. I hope they don’t dump him in RF.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]He’d take Fukudome’s place at leadoff then I think. Or they’d sit Byrd because Byrd’s sucking it up. I hope they don’t dump him in RF.[/quote]From the sound of it, there’s interest in Byrd, even though the Cubs haven’t necessarily had any talks about moving him. If they were ready to bring Jackson up, I’m betting Byrd would be sent flying.
AndCountingQuote Reply
Agreed, AC. It would be pretty simple to trade a player of his caliber with that contract. Cubs would probably even get something decent in return.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=And Counting]The Jackson interview begins at the 1:14:00 mark of the podcast.[/quote]
dammit ac. you didn’t expect me to read the entire post, did you? I listened for about 20 minutes from the beginning, expecting the mindless drivel to end at any point…
GWQuote Reply
[quote name=GW]dammit ac. you didn’t expect me to read the entire post, did you? I listened for about 20 minutes from the beginning, expecting the mindless drivel to end at any point…[/quote](dying laughing)
AndCountingQuote Reply