Can’t possibly see how a McClendon post could turn bad…

I was just talking about this with a friend a couple days ago. If he can get rid of that leg kick he can definitely turn things around. Maybe he’ll get some media coverage ala Kevin Long and Grandy.

It’s a difficult thing to fix and if Legendary Lloyd doesn’t fix it, he won’t be the first hitting coach to fail in this regard.

For all the damn praise that Kevin Long and Granderson got for 2011, Granderson still whiffed 169 times (24.5%…highest % since 2006). If we’re going to keep bringing the two names up in the same paragraphs, we should hope that Jackson develops some power to accompany the K’s. Then, maybe he’ll start getting some MVP votes like Granderson did.

In truth, you have a much easier time finding examples of lean, athletic players developing power than you do of finding whiffmasters that have somehow learned to make contact. Granderson, Adam Jones, and Ellsbury all started to develop greater power in their 3rd / 4th seasons. Grady Sizemore added power pretty quickly. I don’t have much optimism for Jackson getting below 150 K’s next season. I do think that, if left alone, he might hit 15 HR’s and maybe 20+ in 2014. For all the setbacks that 2011 seemed to bring to Jackson, he did show an ISO increase from 107 as a rookie to 125 last year. Adam Jones had a 130 ISO in 2008 (first full year) before jumping to 180 in 2009. I’m hopeful that we see the same thing from Jackson. It looks like they’re going the other direction though and I’m not optimistic about it.