Florida State baseball fans were beginning to get impatient with Link Jarrett and the coaching staff on the recruiting trail. The Noles made their first transfer portal acquisition, using some hometown ties to do it. FAMU designated hitter/pitcher, Jackson McKenzie, was the first transfer portal player to commit to the Seminoles.
His sister, Shelby McKenzie, is a player on the Florida State softball team. She’s got some pop in her bat, and luckily for Florida State, Jackson does too.
Breaking: FSU lands Jackson McKenzie, FAMU standout two way player. The Junior had a breakout year finishing the season hitting .405 with 12 HR while also throwing 31 innings and striking out 27 hitters. A huge get for Link Jarrett and FSU. pic.twitter.com/MebjCnqizm
— aroundthehorn (@_aroundthehorn_) June 9, 2026
Jackson McKenzie gives FSU a left-handed bat with power, and potentially some help in the bullpen
He was a two-way player for FAMU, though I’d anticipate he’ll likely be used more for his bat than his pitching services. He hit .397 in 43 games (35 starts), with 12 home runs and 52 RBI in 126 at-bats. He scored 36 runs and had a .516 on-base percentage. McKenzie walked 26 times and struck out 34 times. That’s a strikeout in 26.9 percent of his at-bats, but over half of his hits went for extra bases. Who can argue with that on-base percentage?
The biggest question mark for McKenzie will be the adjustment to the level of play. Admittedly, his production last year came against pitching that probably isn’t anywhere near as competitive as what he’ll see in the ACC. However, he had some excellent numbers, which is what good hitters are supposed to do against that level of pitching.
McKenzie will likely be one of the replacements for Myles Bailey if he decides to go the MLB Draft route, as expected. Ironically, they have similar numbers through about the same number of at-bats last year, except Bailey had proven he could hit ACC pitching the year before. McKenzie lists at 6’3” and 220 pounds, so he’s a physically mature young man.
There’s some value in having McKenzie as a left-handed pitcher, though I’m not sure how much he would be used. His numbers don’t wow you when you look at his ERA, but he averaged more than one strikeout per inning, and opposing batters only hit .224 against him. He also had three saves. The biggest thing he’d need to improve is the walks. He had 17 in only 31 innings.
I like the first addition overall, though there are some question marks on if the power will carry from the SWAC to the ACC. It's cool that FSU used the hometown ties and family ties to bring Jackson to Tallahassee.
It'll be interesting to see if any other players decide to enter the portal. It looks like Link Jarrett survived that initial wave of departures, though most were expected. Now, it'll be interesting to see who they can attract from the transfer portal. They have had success stories from the JUCO ranks (Marco Dinges), smaller schools like Alex Lodise, and other Power 4 programs like Gage Harrelson.
It'll probably be a mixture of all the above, but there are a lot of holes for Florida State baseball to fill. We'll wait to assess the acquisitions, but this was a good start to the process.
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