Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson ranked among Baseball America‘s top 100 prospects in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but the big knock against him was a very high strikeout rate and questions about whether he’d be able to hit for a decent batting average in the majors.
This year Jackson showed very good power at Triple-A, but hit just .256 with 158 strikeouts in 106 games and then struggled mightily with the Cubs, whiffing in 59 of his 120 at-bats.
Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports that Jackson “has completely overhauled his swing” this offseason in an effort to cut down on the strikeouts, working with manager Dale Sveum and various Cubs coaches.
“I think he’s got a good base to work with going into the rest of the winter and going into spring training to understand the art of hitting, so to speak,” Sveum told Muskat. “Sometimes it gets lost and taught the wrong way.”
Obviously if Jackson can cut down on his strikeouts while not losing the other skills that made him a top prospect in the first place that would be great for the Cubs, but it’ll be interesting to see if having a 23-year-old “overhaul” his swing leads to unintended changes that hurt him overall.