Ponte Vedra’s Jacob Young has emerged as a fan favorite in the nation’s capital — and a likely Gold Glove winner with the Washington Nationals.
“Young isn’t just having a strong defensive season, he’s having an elite one,” wrote Mike Petriello on Mlb.com.
Petriello predicted a Gold Glove for the 25-year-old Floridian, citing top-tier defensive statistics in making the argument.
WHAT A CATCH JACOB YOUNG! pic.twitter.com/ngOBkj9hGA
— Talkin Nats (@TalkinNats) September 10, 2023
Young — who honed his craft on the ballfields of Davis Park and is still known to visit youngsters at the facility — ranked first in the majors in several advanced analytics, including Outs Above Average.
With a only primitive command of modern baseball statistics, The Citizen will not pretend to know what that metric means, but we’re confident in its significance.
Young also has the quickest reactive time in the field (feet covered in the first 1.5 seconds) and is in the 97th percentile in Spring Speed.
The speedy former former Ponte Vedra High School Shark and Florida Gator is also scorching the base paths, notching 28 steals so far this year, tying him with two others for ninth best in the majors.
Not bad for a hometown kid who didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
