The Fall of Brett Jackson

Brett Jackson, ever since the Chicago Cubs drafted him in the first round in 2008 has been the Cubs top prospect until 2012 where he was replaced by Javier Baez and even then he was the 32nd top prospect in Baseball according to Baseball America. He was considered a 5-tool player and was supposed to be the Cubs star outfielder. His strikeouts had other plans./

Brett Jackson had all the tools when he was drafted by the Cubs: power, average, speed, throwing ability, and fielding ability. The Cubs seemed like they got a great pick when they drafted him. In 2009 his first pro season he batted .318 with an impressive .418 OBP and 8 homers. The real problem was his 56 strikeouts which meant a 26.5 strikeout rate.

In 2010 he was among the top 75 prospects in Baseball and played in High-A and Double A that year. He hit .297/.395/.493 with 12 homers and 30 steals but struck out 25% of the time

. The same thing happened in 2011 he was a highly rated prospect with great potential but he struck out way to much with a 32% strikeout rate. He still got on base a lot and still hit for power but the average was dropping and people started to become concerned that his strikeout rate was too much in the minor leagues to translate to success in the major leagues.

In 2012 he struck out 156 times and and hit only .256/.338/.479. He was a top 50 prospect even though the strikeout rate was pretty high. He made his debut in the big leagues in August and struggled mightily for the Cubs hitting .175/.303/.342 3 home runs and 0 steals. He struck out 59 times in 160 ABs.Yes nearly 50% of the time.

Now in 2013 the Cubs made some changes to his approach but it seemed to make him even worse as he batted only .217/.290/.349 and seems to be on the road to Bust City. It is sad to see his decline especially since he had all that potential but struck out too much to last in the big leagues. He can still make the big leagues if he cuts on the strikeouts. It is sad to see the fall of a player with great potential