Austin Jackson’s Hot Start
Posted by Steve Lombardi on May 1, 2010
Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Game Finder - players since 1952 with 11+ games of 2+ hits within the first 25 games of their career:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | #Matching | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Lewis | 13 | Ind. Games | 61 | 56 | 31 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 6 | .554 | .583 | .696 | 1.280 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | Curtis Goodwin | 13 | Ind. Games | 55 | 50 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | .540 | .566 | .580 | 1.146 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | Delmon Young | 12 | Ind. Games | 53 | 50 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | .560 | .566 | .900 | 1.466 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 4 | Bill Virdon | 12 | Ind. Games | 55 | 51 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | .549 | .582 | .843 | 1.425 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Jose Lind | 12 | Ind. Games | 58 | 53 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | .491 | .518 | .660 | 1.178 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | Matt Kata | 12 | Ind. Games | 60 | 55 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 6 | .509 | .550 | .891 | 1.441 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Austin Jackson | 12 | Ind. Games | 58 | 54 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | .519 | .552 | .722 | 1.274 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 8 | Richie Hebner | 12 | Ind. Games | 56 | 53 | 28 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | .528 | .545 | .830 | 1.376 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | Jeff Francoeur | 12 | Ind. Games | 48 | 48 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 5 | .604 | .604 | 1.104 | 1.708 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 | Darin Erstad | 12 | Ind. Games | 66 | 56 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 4 | .500 | .554 | .679 | 1.232 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Chris Chambliss | 12 | Ind. Games | 51 | 46 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 5 | .565 | .608 | .826 | 1.434 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Rocco Baldelli | 12 | Ind. Games | 58 | 53 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 12 | .509 | .509 | .698 | 1.207 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 13 | Ichiro Suzuki | 11 | Ind. Games | 54 | 52 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | .519 | .537 | .654 | 1.191 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Kevin Stocker | 11 | Ind. Games | 48 | 44 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | .545 | .583 | .682 | 1.265 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Steve Staggs | 11 | Ind. Games | 54 | 50 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 6 | .480 | .519 | .780 | 1.299 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 | Benito Santiago | 11 | Ind. Games | 47 | 46 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 6 | .500 | .489 | .804 | 1.294 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | Pablo Sandoval | 11 | Ind. Games | 46 | 43 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 3 | .535 | .522 | .698 | 1.219 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | Ernie Riles | 11 | Ind. Games | 50 | 48 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 5 | .479 | .480 | .667 | 1.147 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | Doug Rader | 11 | Ind. Games | 48 | 44 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 5 | .523 | .521 | .795 | 1.316 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 20 | Kirby Puckett | 11 | Ind. Games | 50 | 49 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .551 | .560 | .571 | 1.131 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | Mitchell Page | 11 | Ind. Games | 50 | 46 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 4 | 3 | .587 | .620 | 1.109 | 1.729 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Bill Madlock | 11 | Ind. Games | 45 | 41 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | .561 | .600 | .854 | 1.454 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 23 | Fred Lynn | 11 | Ind. Games | 49 | 38 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 8 | 4 | .684 | .729 | 1.263 | 1.992 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 24 | Harvey Kuenn | 11 | Ind. Games | 52 | 50 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | .520 | .529 | .620 | 1.149 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 25 | Ricky Jordan | 11 | Ind. Games | 46 | 46 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 5 | .522 | .522 | .826 | 1.348 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 26 | Brian Hunter | 11 | Ind. Games | 62 | 59 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 7 | .525 | .548 | .712 | 1.260 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 27 | Bo Hart | 11 | Ind. Games | 58 | 54 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 7 | .574 | .589 | .778 | 1.367 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | Ken Griffey | 11 | Ind. Games | 50 | 47 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | .574 | .600 | .787 | 1.387 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Julio Gonzalez | 11 | Ind. Games | 51 | 49 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | .490 | .510 | .633 | 1.142 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | Gil Flores | 11 | Ind. Games | 52 | 48 | 24 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 2 | .500 | .529 | .729 | 1.259 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 31 | Daric Barton | 11 | Ind. Games | 52 | 46 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | .522 | .577 | .935 | 1.512 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 32 | Harry Agganis | 11 | Ind. Games | 51 | 46 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 3 | .500 | .540 | .674 | 1.214 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Some interesting names on this list - including some who didn't do all that well after the nice starts to their career.
May 1st, 2010 at 8:24 pm
I am mad that I drafted Jackson in a fantasy draft in February and then cut him in March after reading negative predictions on him in Baseball Prospectus. This reminds me that I have had bad fantasy seasons whenever I buy that book.
May 1st, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Interesting how few "greats" are on this list. One HOFer, one future HOFer, and a couple of borderliners in Kuenn, Lynn and Griffey, otherwise this is a pretty mediocre list of players. I would have thought a lot more of the greats would be on here.
May 2nd, 2010 at 1:50 am
Good to see the Golden Greek! He's one of my alma mater's greatest athletes.
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:30 pm
@Zachary
You should be proud of your alma mater's players' cumulative .302 BA! May I suggest sponsoring the site's BU page?
May 2nd, 2010 at 1:06 pm
He is already 2 for 2 in the 3rd inning today against Weaver.
Goodwin had 2 hits in his 26th game, but leis didn't. so Austin Jackson is now tied for 2nd on this list behind Curtis Goodwin.
May 2nd, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Interesting that BU has a combined .302 average for all players in the majors. However, the only person with a higher average than .300 is Mickey Cochrane with .320. Shows a thing or two about sample size
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
This list is also a good illustration of the dangers of conclusions based on small sample sizes. If someone were to say "This just goes to show that Austin Jackson is definitely going to be a quality hitter" or something of the sort, you could respond "Yeah, like Matt Kata", and they still wouldn't get it. (I'm sure someone on TV has already made a comment to the effect that Jackson has an outstanding career in front of him.)
Pretty much any list with a relatively small number of games is going to look like this one, with some duds, some stars, and some in-between players. Look at, say, most hitless games in first 25 (4 PAs or more per game), or most multi-HR games in first 50.
They sure are fun to create, though!
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:31 am
[...] scored, one home run, five stolen bases and two triples in 25 games. Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day blog did a great post on how many players since 1952 put together 11 or more 2-hit games within the first 25 games of [...]
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:07 am
[...] Baseball-Reference Blog » Blog Archive » Austin Jackson’s Hot Start Only 12 players have had 12 or more multi-hit games in their first 25 games. Austin Jackson is one of them. [...]