Like Zach Putnam, Jackson has been one of the biggest disappointments for scouts this spring. One of the best athletes in the draft, he was twice was the top-rated player in his age group (at 12 in 1999, 15 in 2002) in Baseball America's annual Baseball For The Ages rankings. He's also a gifted basketball player, drawing comparisons to Kenny Lofton (a guard at Arizona before launching his baseball career), and his two-sport aspirations worry scouts. They didn't think they'd have an easy time signing him away from playing hoops at Georgia Tech, and logistics would make it difficult for Jackson to play college basketball and devote much time to pro baseball. He has made that a moot point this spring by rarely showing full effort on the diamond, and it's possible he won't even get drafted. Scouts don't view him as an underachiever so much as making a tacit decision to focus on basketball. When he plays hard, Jackson shows five-tool potential. He has basestealing speed but isn't a burner, as well as gap power, similar to a late-career version of Marquis Grissom.
Austin Jackson Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects
|
