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I knew he was a good defender and that his offense was unknown, so I wasn't expecting much. Boy have I been pleasantly surprised.

Austin Jackson is tearing up the league right now. He's 2nd in the AL in hits behind only Cano (who was tied for second with Miggy before his big game last night) and right before Ichiro and Miggy. Austin is leading all AL rookies in every offensive category besides homeruns.

We've seen him bunt for base hits, steal bases, stretch singles into doubles, making outstanding catches in CF and recently has started to cut back on his strikeouts. I think his power numbers will come in time, but I can't recall ever seeing such a well-rounded prospect right out of the gate.

Forget ROY, Austin Jackson for the All-Star game!!

Austin has shocked me with how well he has played.

Like you said and not surprisingly the kids defense is stellar. It will only improve with more time but with how young and good he is already...we could have a gold glover in CF on our hands easily.

His speed has been a bit surprising too. We all knew he was an athlete but not blazing fast. And i guess he isnt on Crawfords level or anything. But dude can fly and his base stealing prowess and ability has been impressive and is a welcome addition to the top of the lineup.

The offense has been the best thing though. I like what he is doing at the plate so far for the most part and i expected a much rawer hitting prospect honestly. Though he is on pace to destroy Mark Reynolds strikeout record. The power will come slowly, but if he can continue to cut down the K's and keep a high .200's average i would be thrilled

His last three games were his first three without a strikeout. Hopefully he can turn the tide there. Otherwise.... I cannot find any fault with him. He's not a big homerun threat... but you really don't expect that of your leadoff man anyway. You want him to get on base and he is doing that extremely well. And he's not even a big pull hitter. He's been pretty good about getting hits up the middle as well. If he can sprinkle a few more hits the opposite way.... I could see him being a .300 hitter in the league. But he HAS to cut down the strike outs.

Austin Jackson- .330 BA .394 OBP .468 SLG .862 OPS
22 GMs
94 AB
18 R
31 H (2nd in A.L. behind Cano w/ 33)
6 2B
2 3B
1 HR
7 RBI
10 BB
32 SO
4 SB
1 CS
$400,000

Curtis Granderson- .230 BA .313 OBP .392 SLG .705 OPS
21 GMs
74 AB
10 R
17 H
2 2B
2 3B
2 HR
7 RBI
9 BB
16 SO
4 SB
0 CS
$5,500,000

Austin finished April going 5 for 5.

He's now batting .364 for April and should no doubt be Aprils A.L. ROTM.

Torii Hunter is already impressed by our young center fielder:
http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/19856/20100430/hunter_impressed_with_austin_jacksons_center_field_defense/

Would be nice to see Torii work with Austin in the offseasons. Hunter is a great defender. It'd be a great took for Austin.

Austin is doing some serious work lately... Kid is putting everything in play. unreal

This does not need it's own thread we already have one,you need to move the thread to AJ Watch.

I don't need to do anything. Austin Jackson's play does deserve his own thread.

kellmellus50 wrote:This does not need it's own thread we already have one,you need to move the thread to AJ Watch.

This thread is fine. The first one was made during spring training and comparing Granderson to Austin Jackson. This thread is dealing with what a tear Austin has been on and what we are hoping for/expect

Now i dont think we should have 4 Austin Jackson threads pop up but in this case i think its ok.

Please dont backseat moderate, I will move or merge any thread I feel I need to

I won't repeat the great things Jackson has done for us this season as they're already in this thread, but I found this article very interesting:

http://riveraveblues.com/2010/05/checki ... son-27702/

It's basically an article about how lucky Jackson has been while hitting.

Jackson, still just 23-years-old despite being around for what feels like forever, is second in the American League with a .367 batting average which you no doubt already know is fueled by the mother of all BABIP’s: .527. For comparison’s sake, Robbie Cano’s league leading .387 batting average is backed by a .365 BABIP, which is high for him considering his .322 career BABIP, but it’s not completely insane at this time of year. Ichiro had a .399 BABIP the year he broke the all-time single season hit record with 262. That gives you can idea of how absurd Jackson’s luck has been. Outside of Little League, there’s just no way a player can sustain having more than 50% of the balls he hits between the lines drop in for a hit. There’s just no way.

He uses the entire field, and finds the gaps. I don't think he'll keep his BABIP above .500 but I don't think he's been "lucky" either. I have not read ONE article that talks positively about Jackson without highlighting what people preceive as his "flaws" and "luck". This is getting ridiculous. He leads the A.L. in batting average. He leads the major league in hits and multiple hit games... and not one article that just says "wow, good start kid". Not one.

AL Rookie of the Month for April!

I hated the trade when it happened, not because of what the Tigers were getting in return, but because of what Granderson meant to the city and fans. It was a bold move that has turned out to be brilliant. I miss Grandy, but Jackson is making the transition a lot easier.