According to Baseball America, four of the top 20 prospects ahead of the 2024 season had one thing in common: their first names.
Padres shortstop/outfielder Jackson Merrill was ranked 17th and made an immediate impact as an All-Star as a rookie.
Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe has yet to pitch in the major leagues, but was ranked 20th on the prospect rankings. The other two were ranked first (Jackson Holliday) and second (Jackson Chaulio) overall, but did not have the immediate impact that Merrill had.
Through his first 50 games, Chaulio batted .210 with five home runs, 16 RBIs, 20 runs scored, seven stolen bases and a .582 OPS. His strikeout rate was 32% and his fielding percentage was 38.2%.
Though he only stole one base, the 20-year-old went 23-for-73 (.315 batting average) with four home runs, 16 RBIs, 14 runs scored and an .897 OPS in June, improving his batting average from .210 to .243.
His strikeout rate was 17.5 percent, a significant decrease from the first two months.
Chourio continued to produce solidly in July, batting .317 with three home runs, 12 RBIs, 14 runs scored, four stolen bases and an OPS of .876, helping his batting average rise to .262.
His strikeout rate (13.6%) improved again, decreasing by about 20% from March to May.
Through his first six games this month, Chaulio is batting .433 with two home runs (both coming on Thursday), six RBIs, three stolen bases and a 1.102 OPS.
Since June 1, the rookie has batted .335 with nine home runs, 34 RBI, 34 runs scored, eight stolen bases and a .921 OPS.
During that span, he posted the fifth-best batting average in the league, the 18th-best on-base percentage (.380), the 21st-best OPS and the 22nd-best slugging percentage (.541).
His strikeout rate was 16.5 percent (half of what it was in the first two months) and his run-chasing rate was 32 percent, down 6.2 percentage points from the first 50 games of the season.
Chaulio, who entered the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak, was batting .277 with 14 home runs, 50 RBIs, 54 runs scored, 15 stolen bases and a .763 OPS.
His strikeout rate was 21.4 percent, his walk rate was 6.1 percent and his hit-again rate was 32.4 percent, nearly five percentage points lower than Merrill’s.
There’s a reason why the Brewers signed Chaulio, who continues to be the top hitter in Milwaukee’s lineup, to an eight-year, $82 million contract before he ever played a single game in the majors, and over the past two-plus months we’ve learned a big reason why (even though his BaBIP is showing good fortune).
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That’s why it’s hard to believe the in-form outfielder is still available in more than 60 percent of ESPN leagues, where he should be on the roster (especially in dynasty leagues).
But the Orioles’ Jackson was the highest-ranked addition in ESPN leagues this week and is currently 60% on the roster, a big turnaround from the start of his career after being promoted in April.
In his first 10 games, Holliday was 2-for-34 (.059 batting average), with one RBI and five runs scored for a .170 OPS. He appeared underpowered, striking out in half his at-bats before being sent back down to the minor leagues.
The days of being the top pick in the 2022 draft appear to be over.
In his first eight games since being recalled on July 31, he was 9-for-28 (.321) with four home runs, 11 RBI, eight runs scored and a 1.173 OPS.
He scored in each of those games, driving in at least one in seven of them.
There’s a reason Holliday was considered the top prospect in baseball by nearly everyone, and he’ll get a chance to show off all of his abilities (he has great speed) down the stretch.
Even young players considered elite can take time to adjust to the major leagues.
Big hit
Matt Chapman, 3B, Giants
In his last 15 games through Friday, he had hit six home runs with a .362 batting average, 14 RBIs, 13 runs scored and a 1.206 OPS.
Brian Wu SP, Mariners
He has allowed three or more runs just once in 13 starts and is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA, a .205 batting average and just two walks in his past four starts.
Kyle Schwarber, outfielder, Phillies
In his first 19 games after the All-Star break, he batted .329 with eight home runs, 19 RBIs, 15 runs scored and a 1.210 OPS. He entered his eight-game hitting streak on Friday and is batting .469 with five home runs in that span.
Luis Gil SP, Yankees
He has won three of his last four games while maintaining a 2.11 ERA, a .203 batting average and an 11 percent strikeout rate.
A big miss
Bryce Turan, 2B/SS, Brewers
He was batting .292 to start the month of July, but after hitting .174 with 20 strikeouts and a .422 OPS in 29 games through Friday, his average had dropped to .259.
Cutter Crawford SP, Red Sox
In four starts since the All-Star break, he was 1-2 with a 10.61 ERA, allowed 13 home runs and a .313 batting average and 1.184 OPS.
Jeremy Peña, SS, Astros
Entering Friday’s game, he had four hits, one of which was a long hit, in 38 at-bats so far (.105 batting average), with 13 strikeouts and a .322 OPS.
Nestor Cortez SP, Yankees
In his last eight starts, he has allowed at least one home run while going 1-5 with a 6.86 ERA, .309 batting average and .943 OPS. In his last 12 starts, he has a 5.68 ERA and has allowed 13 home runs.
Check your swing
Eduardo Rodriguez won the season opener against Cleveland, but gave up two home runs and struck out just one. The Rockies will face them for the second time, and as of Friday they were leading the league in road batting average (.219) with 618 strikeouts, so things should be easier at home.
– Jake Berger batted .225 with 10 homers, 35 RBIs and a .635 OPS in the first half of the season, then batted .293 with nine homers, 14 RBIs and a 1.071 ERA in his first 20 games after the break. Since July 2, he is batting .286 with 12 homers and a .979 OPS.
– Yusei Kikuchi has walked 4.9 batters per nine innings in his first two starts with Houston, but struck out 15.5 batters per nine innings. Four of his next six starts are expected to come against the teams with the highest strikeout rates in the major leagues: the Rays (7th), Red Sox (3rd), Reds (8th) and Athletics (4th).
– Vinny Pasquantino entered Friday’s game with at least one RBI in eight of his last nine games and was 14-for-39 (.359) with six home runs, 17 RBI, eight runs scored and one stolen base for a 1.221 OPS.
– Seth Lugo is 11-3 with a 2.21 ERA and a .218 ERA through his first 19 starts, allowing three or more earned runs just three times during that stretch. In his last five starts, he has allowed four or more earned runs three times for a 4.54 ERA.
Ben Joyce, who earned his first save with the Angels on Aug. 3, has allowed just one run in 19 appearances. Opponents are batting .117 over that span with a 12% strikeout rate and an average four-seam fastball speed of 101.9 mph. He’s available in nearly 90% of ESPN leagues.
– Paul Blackburn (11.3% of the roster) is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 9.0 strikeouts per 9 innings in his first two starts with the Mets. He’s not known as a strikeout pitcher, but two of his next potential opponents (Athletics and Marlins) are the worst hitting teams and tend to strike out the most, especially Oakland (his former team). He should be a solid streaming option.
This week’s team name
Stop! Or my Kwan will shoot.
