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After struggling in his brief time in the major leagues, Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson will be starting next season at AAA Iowa. Jackson hit just .175 in his debut, striking out in 59 of his 142 plate appearances. He showed decent power and walked at an excellent rate, but he'll need to make more contact if he wants to succeed in the big leagues.
Jackson was invited to Arizona by the Cubs to work on a few things with manager Dave Sveum and hitting coach James Rowson. He seems fairly upbeat after the camp, and talked about working hard and making the adjustments to get him back to the Cubs (via ESPN Chicago):
"Nothing is easy in this game, so I am not the type of person to take the easy way to getting things done. Regardless whether I had a major league job or not, I will always push myself to be the best player I can be. Right now I am trying to work at showing (Cubs officials ) when spring training comes around I can be a player that can help the team win."
"There were some noticeable flaws that I learned about myself this year. I have been able to work on that in the offseason. You talk about the adjustments that Rizzo made last year and now his swing is completely different and obviously for the better."
Jackson's strikeout rate has climbed at every stop he's made since rookie ball, and his 41.5% rate in his brief major league stint would have him challenging the single season strikeout record if he was given a full season of plate appearances.
The adjustments that the Cubs made with Rizzo last season saw his strikeout rate nearly cut in half, and his batting average more than doubled to a very solid .285. Fans will certainly be hoping that Jackson has the same sort of results after working with Sveum and Rowson in Arizona.