MADISON, Alabama — Following a dominant series at the plate, Rocket City Trash Pandas infielder Jeremiah Jackson has been named Southern League Player of the Week for the period between April 24-30.
Jackson becomes the seventh ever Rocket City Player of the Week and second during the 2023 season after infielder Zach Neto took home Player of the Week honors on April 16. The weekly award is the third of Jackson’s professional career. He previously the honor in the Pioneer League with Rookie-Level Orem on August 18, 2019 and then with Low-A Inland Empire on June 6, 2021.
Over five games last week in Chattanooga, Jackson batted .611 (11-for-18) with one home run, four RBI, six runs scored, three walks, three stolen bases, a .636 on-base percentage, .889 slugging percentage, and a 1.525 OPS. His batting average was the best in all of Minor League Baseball last week while he also led the Southern League in hits, on-base percentage, and OPS.
Jackson recorded at least one hit in all five games played against the Lookouts at AT&T Field, with four of those games being multi-hit performances. On April 26, he tied a career-high with four hits with three singles, a double, and two RBI as Rocket City beat Chattanooga 4-3. In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Jackson crushed his first home run of the season, a solo blast in the sixth inning of a 13-6 win. He scored six runs over his final three games of the series after being held without a run in his first 10 games of the season.
In 13 games for Rocket City this season, Jackson is batting .271 (13-for-48) with one home run, eight RBI, six run scored, and three stolen bases. He also spent the entire 2022 season with the Trash Pandas, hitting .215 with 14 home runs, 44 RBI, and 44 runs scored in 87 games.
Jackson, 23, was born in Antioch, Tennessee but grew up in Mobile, Alabama. There, he starred at St. Luke’s Episcopal School where he was named Alabama’s 2018 Mr. Baseball. When the Los Angeles Angels drafted him in the second round of the 2018 draft, he became the first Alabama high school shortstop drafted in the first two rounds since Bo Jackson (no relation) was picked in the second round of the 1982 draft by the New York Yankees.
The Trash Pandas (12-9) return home to begin a six-game series with the Tennessee Smokies (11-10) on Tuesday night. First pitch at Toyota Field is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV.