Cubs’ Minor League Daily: Brett Jackson Boggles The Mind

Brett Jackson has 39 strikeouts in June. That’s good for a strikeout rate much closer to 50% than any prospect should have. No one can succeed when he is striking out that often. And yet … Jackson is having the best month of his year. He already has five home runs and we’ve still got a week to play. His slash line reads .291/.371/.581. That’s right, he is striking out at a horrifying pace and still has an on base percentage over .370.

This is not supposed to happen. If we ignored the strike outs Jackson would look like a guy in the middle of a breakout. He looks like a guy who could surge his way into an August call up and who could spend the final seven weeks of the season starting in the majors. But if we look at just the strike outs, he resembles something from the Hall of Baseball Horrors. It is extremely rare to find a player with an OBP that tells one story and a strikeout rate that tells another story to this degree.

In just over three weeks he will have crossed the 162 game mark, and that means we have to consider the possibility he could be called up. I’m really not sure what fans will make of him if that happens. I think his defense and his daily effort will win people over, but I’m not sure about the bat. Will Cubs fans welcome a guy for whom a good game could include two strikeouts, a double, a walk, and a stolen base? Before this season is over we may have our answer.

Scores From Yesterday

Iowa – Iowa had more hits than Round Rock, but they still lost 5-2.
Tennessee – Bad weather suspended the Smokies game in the top of the third. It will be resumed from that point today (weather permitting).
Daytona – The Daytona game was postponed due to bad weather. The Cubs will play a doubleheader on Monday.
Peoria – Peoria won a wild offensive show case by a final of 12-11.
Boise – Four separate players homered as the he Hawks’ hitters carried the team to a 14-11 win.
Arizona – The Arizona Cubs had Sunday off.

Performances of the Day

  • [Iowa] Brett Jackson has now homered in three consecutive games. In addition to his eleventh long ball, he also had a walk, a strikeout, and his fourteenth stolen base.
  • [Iowa] Welington Castillo was sent to Iowa so he could play every day, and he is taking advantage of that. After his three hit performance on Sunday the catcher has a Triple A OPS of .983.
  • [Tennessee] Trey McNutt started for Tennessee. The weather cut short his game, but through the first two innings he had allowed a run on two hits and was holding a 2-1 lead.
  • [Peoria] Zeke DeVoss had two walks, a home run, three runs scored, and his 17th stolen base of the season.
  • [Peoria] After his 4 for 5 game on Sunday, Pin-Chieh Chen has a June OBP of .405 and an OPS of .881. He has stolen nine bases in the month without being caught once.
  • [Boise] Jeimer Candelario hit his fourth home run in five games, and Gioskar Amaya hit his fourth triple. Amaya, Marco Hernandez, and Shawon Dunston each hit their first homer of the season.
  • Other Minor League Notes

  • Currently the Tennessee Smokies are in sole possession of first place for the second half of the season. This team got hot enough at the end of the first half to bring their overall record back to the .500 mark, and I expect they will continue to be one of the better teams in their division throughout the second half. Cubs’ fans may get to enjoy some playoff baseball this season after all. Minor league playoff baseball, granted, but it is still better than nothing.
  • The Hawks had 14 hits and four walks in this game, but they still managed to leave just four players on base. That is an impressively efficient offensive performance.
  • Farm System Standings

    AAAIowa Cubs : 32 – 45.
    Pacific Coast League American Northern Division – Second Place: 14.0 Games Behind.

    AATennessee Smokies : 2-1
    Southern League North Division – First Place : 0.5 Games Ahead

    High ADaytona Cubs : 2-1
    Florida State League North Division – Second Place (tie) : 0.0 Games Ahead

    Low APeoria Chiefs : 1-2
    Midwest League Eastern Division – Third Place : 2.0 Games Behind

    Short-Season ABoise Hawks : 4 – 6
    Northwest League East Division – Second Place : 1.0 Game Behind

    Rookie LeagueAZL Cubs : 3 – 1
    Arizona Rookie League East – Second Place : 0.5 Game Behind

    written by

    Luke Blaize is the Minor League Editor at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @ltblaize.

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