Return to MLB Prospect index Austin Jackson - CF Austin Jackson Scouting Report - Jackson was an eighth round selection in the 2005 MLB Draft by the Yankees. - He was born February 7th, 1987 in Texas. - Jackson is an above average athlete who was an excellent basketball player in high school. - During the 2008 season in Double-A Trenton, Jackson hit .284/.351/.415 with 19 steals, nine homers, 33 doubles and five triples. He has 113 strikeouts in 520 at bats to go with 56 walks. He has always had a high BAbip and that sat at .348 in 2008. Jackson's strikeout rate has always been a chief concern and it ballooned in August before he shut it down with a back injury. - His road numbers were much better in 2008, hitting .310/.382/.489 as opposed to .256/.316/.336 at home. - Jackson continued his propensity for strikeouts in the 2008 Arizona Fall League season. He struck out in 19.4% of his 581 plate appearances in 2008. - He split time between low Single-A Charleston and high Single-A Tamp during the 2007 season, with very impressive success in the latter. He hit for an OPS of .964 in Tampa in 284 at bats following a 709 OPS in Charleston. - Jackson's history as a multi-sport player means that he hasn't played baseball full time nearly as long as other prospects his age, so he is further away from reaching his ceiling. - He has excellent range in center and can become above average defensively. - Ranked 46th by Baseball Prospectus in their Top 100 Prospects for 2009. Austin Jackson Updates RealGM will be tracking Austin Jackson throughout his minor league development and present updates on his progress here and within our Wiretap. Austin Jackson Links - Latest Austin Jackson news via Google - Jackson's FirstInning.com page - Jackson's Minor League Baseball Reference page - Jackson's FanGraphs.com page - If you have updates on Austin Jackson that warrant inclusion on this page, please email me at [email protected]