Player Profile- Brandon Jacobs

The Red Sox drafted Brandon Jacobs in the tenth round in 2009, out of high school in Georgia. An Auburn football recruit, Jacobs may have found his true calling on the diamond. Jacobs is lighting up the South Atlantic League with the Greenville Drive, scouts calling him a pure hitter.  He currently has impressive stats in the sabermetric and traditional categories, hitting .369/.436/.583 with a wOBA of .448.

What do scouts think of Jacobs? Find out, after the jump!

Soxprospects.com scout Chris Mellen has this to say about Jacobs-
 
 "Jacobs has made a concerted effort to work on his approach since joining the organization and try to go deeper into counts, with the goal to attack pitches in zones he can drive.  Early season reports have commented on him making progress with his selectivity and getting himself into hitter's counts.  Jacobs is still rough in this aspect of his offensive game and can expand his strike zone too much as highlighted by the amount of times he is striking out.  He also struggles some with chasing breaking balls that sweep across the plate.  Overall, he's a hitter working on his development needs and beginning to show that work is translating into positive results on the field thus far into the season."
 
Another minor league analyst I spoke with told me that Jacobs is built like a running back and will develop a lot of power. He also said that he has always been a terrific contact hitter for his age. However, I note that Jacobs has a K% of 34% this year, much higher than his 25% last season. His other numbers are excellent, but we’ll have to watch the strikeouts as he moves up.

One concern I have with Jacobs is his fielding. Early on he was projected as a center fielder, but he has turned into a liability. Scouts now predict Jacobs will end up as a left fielder and if that does not work possibly a DH. Scouts have told me he takes bad routes on the ball and sometimes struggles to make simple plays. His arm is below average.

Overall, while Jacobs isn’t on the fast track, he has one of the highest ceilings in the Boston system and needs to be watched closely