Austin Jackson looking for consistent results in 2012 season – MLB News
Austin Jackson had a decent past season. In the first week of September 2011, he was named Player of the Week. Hitting with a sensational.529 batting average with two home runs and 13 runs in that week, he looked in commanding form in the last quarter of 2011 regular season.
The right handed striker made his Major League Baseball debut with the Tigers in 2009 and he has shown great improvement since then. Besides being a strong hitter, Jackson can also perform his defensive duties quite efficiently. For his consistent performances on the field, he secured the 2011 Fielding Bible Award.
However, Tigers’ coach Lloyd McClendon says Jackson still has a lot to learn to polish his game. The two have been working on Jackson’s hitting technique and stance on the plate over the last few weeks. McClendon believes Jackson is a very quick learner and the fans will some definite changes in his playing style in 2012 season.
"He had 180 hits and 100 runs," McClendon said. "In the face of that, how do you say, 'I want you to change? Sometimes in order to make changes there has to be a struggle and a willingness on the part of the participant to do it. So I would have been fighting an uphill battle after the first year if I had said, 'We need to change.'"
"That's in the past," he said. "We now look forward to a new season and helping the Tigers win. Hopefully we can win the division."
The Tigers’ don’t have a decent alternative to Austin Jackson at the moment. They will be relying heavily on the centre fielder to raise his batting average and reduce the number of strikeouts. Still very new to the Major League Baseball world, Jackson, on the other hand, will be looking to cheer up the fans with consistent performances in 2012.
Jackson has the willingness to adapt to the new batting method and he has put in a lot of hard work to overcome the flaws in his technique. Although he gave respectable results the past season, he will be looking to be more consistent in 2012 to secure a permanent spot in Tigers final roster.
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