4/22 Jackson close but not ready yet

With the Cubs trade of Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox, there naturally is speculation that Brett Jackson, the Cubs’ No. 1 pick in 2009, would get called up. Not yet, Dale Sveum said.

“It’s just the plan we want to stick with and develop him,” Sveum said Sunday. “He still needs to develop. He’s still striking out a little too much. He needs to be more conscious and a little bit better in that situation. If you’re striking out that much in Triple-A, it’ll be that much more against big league pitching. Until you get those 500 at-bats at Triple-A, it’s something the organization and Theo [Epstein] want to impress on our young guys is you’ll stay and play and develop.”

Epstein has made it clear he wants young players to get their work in the Minor Leagues. Jackson began this season with 1,133 total Minor League at-bats, including 185 at Triple-A Iowa.

“I think sometimes we rush kids too quick and it’s not for anybody’s benefit,” Sveum said. “We’ve all been part of when kids have been rushed and they’ve done really well but it doesn’t happen very often.”

In 16 games this year with Iowa, Jackson, 23, was batting .254 with a team-leading 21 strikeouts.

– Carrie Muskat