Player on a path to the Major Leagues
Former BAL star Nolan Jones ranked as Cleveland Indians’ No. 1 prospect
Former BAL star Nolan Jones ranked as Cleveland Indians’ No. 1 prospect.
By the time the Akron RubberDucks came to bat in the last inning of a doubleheader, the heat wave that had made much of the day insufferable gave way to a cooler misting rain.
Yet most of the fans who came to Arm & Hammer Park that day received the giveaway Gleyber Torres bobblehead the home Thunder were handing out and headed for the exit. Except for the 80 or so sporting Holy Ghost Prep shirts or Cleveland Indians hats.
They were there to see one man.
As Nolan Jones has done so many times before in his young career, he brought them to their feet with a laser-beam home run over the 407-foot mark in dead center.
“You get drafted out of high school and you move away from home and you don’t get to see those people as often,” Jones said. “They don’t get to see you play, do what you love. To look up in the stand and see all those people, it was really special.”
A Langhorne native who starred at Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem, Jones was selected in the second round (55th overall) in the 2016 draft by Cleveland, which signed him away from a commitment to the University of
Virginia for $2.25 million.
He’s really took off this season, earning a spot in the Futures Game, a promotion to Double-A and the organization’s No. 1 prospect rank by MLB Pipeline. In 18 games in the Eastern League, Jones has a .286/.359/.529 slash with an .888 OPS, seven homers, six doubles and 11 RBIs. Prior to that he batted .286/.435/.425 with an .860 OPS, seven homers, 12 doubles and 41 RBIs in 77 games for Lynchburg in the High-A Carolina League.
“I don’t have the numbers
I want yet,” Jones said. “I don’t think I’ll ever have the number I want. We’re always trying to adjust and learn how guys are going to pitch us. I’m trying to figure out what they’re trying to do to me and I respond based on that. I’m always trying to work on different things and get better. I don’t want to be playing here, I want to be playing in the big leagues.”
He got a tiny taste of what that may be like at the Futures Game, which happened to be in Cleveland at Progressive Field.
“That’s my dream of my future home,” Jones said. “I want to be playing there every single day. To have it at Progressive Field made it
so much better. Running out there and thinking that hopefully this can be my home field sooner rather than later, it definitely gave me chills.”
Jones certainly looks the part of a future big leaguer. He’s every bit of the 6-4, 185-pounds he’s listed at and has a sweet left-handed swing with an ability to use the whole field. In addition to his home run in the three games against the Thunder, he also had an RBI double he ripped into the left-field corner. Jones has hit safely in his last six games (10-for27, .370 average, six RBIs) with multiple hits in four of those six contests.
Defensively, he’s improving at third base — he was a high school shortstop and there are some who believe his future could be in left field — where his .930 field percentage is the best it’s been in his pro career, although that number still needs improvement.
“I don’t ever want to be somebody who a pitcher doesn’t want behind him,” Jones said. “I want to be a guy who can make the plays and help his team. I think I’m getting better every single day. I’m not as good as I want to be, but I’m starting to feel more comfortable in being able to make plays that I know two years ago I wouldn’t be able to make. Even those routine plays, I struggled with the throws a lot last year and I’m so much more comfortable making those plays right now. It’s just that constant practice, that constant work, being able to put your head down every day and want to get better.”
Some project Jones could be with the Indians as soon as next season, but you won’t catch him reading anything into that.
“I think it means absolutely nothing,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t see it if my friends didn’t send it to me. It’s an honor that people view us as that, but there are 30 great baseball players in that clubhouse. I’m going out there trying to win and not do everything myself. I think that helps being able to trust the guys around me and relying on them helps me not worry about that prospects stuff and what this person thinks about me or what this beat writer thinks about me.”
For a few days, he simply enjoyed being back at home (he actually didn’t get to catch up with his mother and sister because they were in California for a softball tournament. His sister, Liana, starred at Neshaminy High and is headed to Penn State in the fall).
The smile on his face as he circled the bases told the story.
“It was the cherry on top,” Jones said. “To hear the people cheering for me, it was super cool.”