Cubs Callup Jackson & Vitters

[bestkeptsecret13]

The Cubs have called up OF Brett Jackson and 3B Josh Vitters from Triple-A Iowa for today's game against the Dodgers. Jackson was hitting .258 /.338 / .479 in 106 games in Iowa. He also has 22 doubles, 12 triples, and 15 home runs. Vitters was batting .304 / .356 / .513 in 110 games for Iowa. He has 32 doubles, 17 home runs, and 68 runs batted in. Jackson was the Cubs #1 pick in '09, Vitters the third overall pick in the '07 MLB Draft.

This gives Cubs fans something to be excited about. While Jackson has been striking out nearly 33% of the time this season, he's still got all the tools to be a solid ball player in the bigs. I think a lot of his struggles have come from trying to hard to get to the big leagues, but then again he has always had strikeout problems, just never to this extent. Vitters, on the other hand, is having the best year of his pro career, so maybe he turns out to actually be something decent, after Cubs fans kind of wrote him of for nothing a few years ago.

With Rizzo-Barney-Castro-Vitters covering the infield, the Cubs have a nice young core to build around.

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Seems nobody cares, but whatever...

Jackson and Vitters combined to go a solid 0-8 with six strikeouts tonight.

 

[elcheato]

Vitters isn't really relevant anymore, but Jackson is intriguing. Strikeouts will always be an issue but you can live with it if he's getting you 20/20, possibly even more.

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Vitters isn't really relevant anymore, but Jackson is intriguing. Strikeouts will always be an issue but you can live with it if he's getting you 20/20, possibly even more.

I don't get why people say Vitters isn't relevant. Is he a Top 100 prospect? Probably not, but he's still a former #3 pick that is having a good season. He is only 22 and had the best year of his minor league career this season. He probably won't ever be a superstar, but he can be serviceable in a league without a lot of star power at 3B.

Did it take him awhile to arrive at the big league level? Maybe, he spent 5 1/2 seasons down in the minor leagues, but you gotta remember he came right out of high school. He didn't ever light the world on fire down there, but I don't see why he can't have a solid career as a 3B.

 

[elcheato]

He's consistently shown he's not willing to take a walk and he isn't some supreme hitter to make up for it. Could he have turned a corner in his half a season in Triple A with his batting eye? Maybe, but it's still only half a season of his 5+ year career.

 

[snipezo]

Jackson might have a K rate of 40% in the bigs lol.

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

He's consistently shown he's not willing to take a walk and he isn't some supreme hitter to make up for it. Could he have turned a corner in his half a season in Triple A with his batting eye? Maybe, but it's still only half a season of his 5+ year career.

He's actually had his best walk rate of his career this season, so he's shown progress and is a pretty good hitter. I see no reason why he can't be a .280-.290 / .340-.350 kinda guy in the big leagues.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I actually think Vitters can be good at the big league level. He's still only 22 and taking walks at a young age is always an issue -- on the plus side, he doesn't strike out a ton either.