Here’s an update on a Prince George baseball product who’s trying to up his stock in the minors.
Jared Young is continuing his stint with the Tennessee Smokies, the ‘AA’ Southern League farm club of the Chicago Cubs two steps down from Major League Baseball (MLB), and as of Wednesday (May 29), he is currently the best and most consistent batter on the team.
As his Smokies claimed a 2-1 victory in Biloxi, Mississippi, the 23-year-old ‘utility man’ extended both his hitting and on-base streaks to 12 and 15 games in a row respectively, according to a team release.
The first-baseman has 17 total hits in that 12-game stint, including a season-high four in five at-bats in Sunday’s (May 26) 11-10 loss to Pensacola.
He leads the team for the 2019 season thus far with 47 hits in 46 games.
A hot bat at the plate has also come with quick feet around the diamond with 24 total bases in 15 straight games, including four sprints to second base after clobbering the ball.
This has helped increase his on-base percentage to .341, good enough for fifth place on team for the season and the second best record as one of only five players to start in 45 games or more.
Young also leads Tennessee with 64 total bases and 27 RBIs, sixth best in the ‘AA’ Southern League.
The Prince George Senior Men’s Baseball (PGSBL) alumnus is second in Smokies’ team-batting average with a .280, which has him ranked 10th in the league in that category.
Young’s team is above 500 right now with a record of 26-25 through one-third of the 140-game season, four games back of first place in their division.
He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2017, played in the ‘A’ and Advanced ‘A’ leagues in 2018, and was promoted to ‘AA’ after an impressive MLB Spring Training campaign.
SmokiesCenter 4/23 vs Chattanooga: Jared Young almost set a Southern League record, and the Smokies bashed all night long. pic.twitter.com/wyN1EfhtKA
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) April 24, 2019
