Jackson Markert

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked San Francisco Giants #26 prospect in 2002
  Markert's 39 saves last year represented the ninth-highest total in minor league history, and he won the minor league edition of the Rolaids Relief Man award. However, of the closers who have surpassed his total in the minors, only Mike Perez and Steve Reed had significant big league careers. The saves don't get the Giants excited, though Markert's stuff does. He has a hard sinker that regularly reaches 93 mph, and San Francisco's think he'll throw harder with weight training. He gets good leverage on the sinker, though he could do more in that regard. Markert's out pitch is a splitter, which he uses to induce plenty of ground balls. He must keep the ball down to be effective. His strikeout numbers were better in his short-season debut, and the organization wants to see if he can develop a third pitch to help him miss more bats. A third pitch also could lead to a move to the rotation, though Markert is likely to close in high Class A in 2002.