Jared Young

OOTV Top Bats Ranking: 4
Age: 23
Position: 1B
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Height/Weight: 6’2″/185

How Did He Get Here?

Young was a 2017 round draftee out of Old Dominion and has quickly made his way through the Cubs system. He was predominantly a middle infielder during his days in college, but was converted over to play first base soon after he made his professional debut.

While the switch is mainly attributed to his larger frame, he can pick it with the best of them due to his quick hands and feet from playing years at the keystone.

As expected from a first baseman, it has been his bat that has allowed him to rise up from level to level, eventually ending in Myrtle Beach in 2018. Young has displayed a plus hit tool so far in the minors, showing the ability to put the ball in play consistently typically by way of working the gaps in the outfield.

That hit tool has been put on display even more when looking at his strikeout rate, which dipped as low as 16% while in South Bend last season. That is especially impressive for a man of his stature.

How Can He Improve?

Young needs to show the ability to hit for more power in 2019. Up to this point, he has shown that he can put the ball in play extremely well with flashes of gap-to-gap power. This season he needs to further those skills, showing he can go gap-to-gap extremely well with flashed of home run pop. In order for him to stick around at first base, his career hinges on the bat developing into a guy with above average power.

If he is unable to advance his bat, Young will need to improve his versatility. While second base seems out of the question now, he dabbled a bit in left field during 2018 and that versatility could become extremely valuable for multiple reasons.

First, this organization values versatile players highly. Secondly, the versatility puts less pressure on his bat to succeed at the upper levels of the minors and into Chicago. And lastly, the first base position is currently occupied by a decent player by the name of Anthony Rizzo in Chicago. Being able to play multiple positions is absolutely necessary for Young’s development.

What to Expect

Plan on seeing Young take up shop in Tennessee to begin the 2019 season. After excelling in South Bend in the first half of last season and then hitting at an above average rate in Myrtle Beach, he has shown that he is ready for Double-A pitching. The jump from Single-A to Double-A is arguably the hardest transition in all of the minors and will be an important test for Young.

With his advanced makeup and already impressive defense, the front office will just be watching his bat for the first half of the 2019 season. If he shows that he is able to hold his own, don’t be surprised to see him get the call to Iowa at some point this season.

That will put Young on track to contribute at the big league level come 2020 as he provides important depth and a left handed bat off the bench.

Feature photo courtesy of Rikk Carlson (@rikkcarl10)