Jackson
Gifford

Positional Profile: 3B/OF
Body: 5-11, 190-pounds. Strong athletic build with present strength
Hit: RHH. Slightly open with bat rested on his shoulder at stance.  Smaller leg raise trigger. Compact handsy stroke that is direct to the ball. Turns tight as hands stay connected to the body throughout the swing. Flat swing path.
Power: 99 mph exit velocity. Present wall ball power. Coils well. Bat speed average of 72.1 mph and Rotational Acceleration average of 18.2 g's are above average for his level and show a high power ceiling. Homerun in BP.
Arm: RH. INF - 78 mph. OF - 77 mph. Short and compact arm action from both INF/OF. Higher release. Accurate throws from both positions and flashed some carry.
Defense: Athletic movements at both positions. Comes through the ball well in the OF using momentum. Clean exchanges.
Run: 7.47 runner in the 60.

Bay Area World Series 2020 (BAWS) - Uncommitted; Hit tool stood out. Quick trigger, short swing produced hard contact w/little effort. Projects to have extra base hit power w/ability to hit quality college pitching. Solid avg defense tools, maybe capable of 2B or LF in addition to 3B.

NorCal Preseason All-State: 

7.60 60yd, 72 INF, 93 EV

5-10, 190 squared shoulders and firm build with some present strength. Flared elbows in a balanced stance with bat flat on back shoulder; leans into load with hands working back on soft stride. Hands stay tight to the body through turns allowing him to keep a level bat through the zone; can continue to improve ability to lock in front shoulder to keep barrel path in the zone longer. Strength plays in the bat when he goes to pull gap and stays in the middle of the field (93 EV). Shows fair footwork at 3rd with wider rounding of the baseball and higher hips; flashed some ability to open up and make plays on the move. Arm was compact with high release; led to throws sailing on him and can work on moving through the baseball with lower actions (72 INF).

Vs Santa Cruz - Uncommitted. Gifford is the #1 starter for Harbor and was in RF while also having shown good skills at 3B. The medium frame is starting to strengthen up and the bat shows some quickness. He stayed on a pitch on the outer half of the plate lacing the ball right at the RF in his 1st AB before popping up in foul territory in his 2nd AB. He’s moved around a lot for the Pirates, but had a rough day in RF with multiple routines grounders going under his glove and leading to easy runs for Santa Cruz. I’ve seen Gifford a few different times and he continues to show flashes of the skills, but he seems to play passively limiting the ceiling of those skills.

Gifford is a 5-foot-10 174-pound player with lean build, high waist and longer legs; his body should get stronger and firm up as he naturally physically matures. Projectable hitting tools and showed positional versatility with a competitive streak. Tall stance, relaxed approach with bat bounce off shoulder. Toe-tap timing to set up quick hands. Showed ability to keep hands tight to make hard contact with level stroke. Can continue to focus on keeping body back. Shown previous ability to turn on pitches in and show raw strength in swing. Full effort runner with short, choppy strides. 4.53, 4.73 times down line. Limited view on mound; compact arm with shorter circle on backside and ability to spot fastball glove side. Curveball shows late action with firmness; inconsistent with pitch and limited ability to change shape of the curveball. Shows flashes and can continue to be more consistent as he matures.