Jacob Young, Bonafide MLB'er?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Christ! My uncle was a piano player. Does that make him my Aunt?

well if your Uncle is named Elton, then maybe.

[imref]

5 homers already this year.

[Natsinpwc]

5 homers already this year. .shock:

It’s an aberration. Slugging is .331 and his OPS+ is 72. BWAR is 0.2.

[Squab]

it’s still a bit early but his year to year statcast looks meaningfully different. he’s squaring up more pitches and has significantly improved his launch angle

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/jacob-young-696285?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

[IdahoNat]

5 homers already this year. .shock:

And many more

[nobleisthyname]

It’s an aberration. Slugging is .331 and his OPS+ is 72. BWAR is 0.2.

The slug is misleading because his BA is only .224. His season ISO is .128 vs a career .067 coming into the season. The power surge is real, but he's done it by trading away all his singles. The end result is still a pretty bad hitter.

[Slateman]

The slug is misleading because his BA is only .224. His season ISO is .128 vs a career .067 coming into the season. The power surge is real, but he's done it by trading away all his singles. The end result is still a pretty bad hitter.

Singles and walks.

He is a .685 OPS against LHP with a 10.2%. With great defense, that's worth keeping as a 4th OFer and platoon option

[nobleisthyname]

Fwiw, his savant page actually looks pretty decent (grading on a curve):

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/jacob-young-696285?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

His xBA is .266.

[aspenbubba]

The slug is misleading because his BA is only .224. His season ISO is .128 vs a career .067 coming into the season. The power surge is real, but he's done it by trading away all his singles. The end result is still a pretty bad hitter.

Yes, and I always wonderd why most of his hits are to right field. Is he swinging late? Also ,he is slower on the base paths and his successful steal rate has declined percipitiously. Still great defence. A 4th OF on a non-contending team.

[Natsinpwc]

Well his slugging this year is now .353.  Which doesn't;t sound great until you look at last year which was .287.  And yes his OBP is down and has been trending downward every year.  I mean at this point almost everyone is hitting on the team so it's ok to have him in CF.

[zimm_da_kid]

Highest avg ev of his career by about 2.5 mph

Lowest babip of his career at .244 (.039 lower than last year) maybe due for some positive regression there. Then again, he’s hitting more balls in the air, so perhaps he’s getting more homers at the expense of soapy speed-driven singles

[IdahoNat]

Really hope he stays for a bit during the breakout. Not only do i want the guys like Abrams and Wood to be here for a while, but also guys like Young and Nunez. Give the team a sense of identity, similar to how the Detroit Red Wings kept their role players like Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper on the team for 10-15 years despite not being big name players.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Really hope he stays for a bit during the breakout. Not only do i want the guys like Abrams and Wood to be here for a while, but also guys like Young and Nunez. Give the team a sense of identity, similar to how the Detroit Red Wings kept their role players like Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper on the team for 10-15 years despite not being big name players.

I think we've said he could be a defensive replacement / 4th OF on a contender and maybe  a platoon bat. Maybe that's  here eventually if they don't get a decent offer this summer.

[welch]

He's a slugger. Last night's game was close because of the decisions to pitch to Soto -- two homers, three RBI's -- until Young's homer, put the game to bed. Keep him.

[nobleisthyname]

JY isn't just having a power surge, he's on pace for his best defensive season ever as well according to statcast who have him as the best defensive outfielder in baseball not named PCA (tied with Andy Pages of the Dodgers).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.federalbaseball.com/washington-nationals-analysis/91352/here-how-jacob-young-turned-into-power-hitter-for-washington-nationals

Some of these points, such as his work at Driveline improving his bat speed and swing path, were brought out before in the Allentuck / WaPo article in the Run Scoring Excellence thread (reply #16) - https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2026/05/22/nationals-offense-is-rolling-thanks-offseason-work/

The Sallick article pulls several things we've commented on and other info together.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

From Ben Clemens's 6/15 FG chat:

2:07    
cosmichero: How is Jacob Young hitting for so much more power this year? Is he just stronger, or is there something significantly different in his approach or pitch selection?

2:07    
Ben Clemens: probably all of the above

2:08    
Ben Clemens: for one thing, his bat speed is up a mile an hour. but also, he’s taking longer swings and making contact with the ball further forward in his swing than ever, as in he’s starting his swing earlier, thus it’s faster when it makes contact

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ben-clemens-fangraphs-chat-6-15-26/

[IdahoNat]

Well thank God he's still here at least. At least some good news from trade deadline.