Jeremiah Jackson Named Southern League Player of the Week

The Rocket City Trash Pandas are proud to announce that infielder Jeremiah Jackson has been named Southern League Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, June 25.

“I am very excited to have had a good week,” Jackson said. “This week was a step in the right direction for myself and the team. We are only going to be better as the season goes on.”

The weekly award is the second of the 2023 season for Jackson, who first took home the honors on April 30. Jackson’s second award of the season marks the eighth time a Rocket City position player has earned Player of the Week and third this season, following Zach Neto on April 16. The weekly award is the fourth of Jackson’s professional career. Before this season, he previously took honors in the Pioneer League with Rookie-Level Orem on August 18, 2019 and then with Low-A Inland Empire on June 6, 2021.

“I’m really happy for Jeremiah,” Trash Pandas Manager Andy Schatzley said. “This is a byproduct of the consistency of his work. He’s a joy to watch every night and more of a joy to work with every day. We’re excited for the week we had and looking forward to weeks he has ahead of him.”

Over five games last week against Montgomery, Jackson batted .421 (8-for-19) with four home runs, seven RBI, six runs scored, six extra-base hits, a massive 1.158 slugging percentage and a 1.579 OPS. He led the Southern League in home runs, extra-base hits, slugging percentage, and OPS while tying for the league lead in runs scored, hits and RBI.

Jackson recorded at least one hit in all five games against the Biscuits at Toyota Field to extend his current hitting streak to seven games. On June 24, he hit a pair of home runs in the opener of a doubleheader while going 3-for-4 at the plate in a 10-5 loss. In the nightcap of the doubleheader, Jackson put Rocket City ahead late with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth as the Trash Pandas went on to win 6-5. He homered in three of the first four games of the series, with his second home run on June 24 traveling an estimated 465 feet over the left field fence.

In 56 games for Rocket City this season, Jackson is batting .257 (54-for-210) with seven home runs, 31 RBI, 29 runs scored, and 15 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.

Jackson and the Trash Pandas (31-38) begin the second half with a six-game series against the Birmingham Barons (25-44) starting on Wednesday night. First pitch at Regions Field is set for 7:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.