The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Top prospect hoping to land in OF
First base also a possibility for prospect
Indians top prospect Nolan Jones happens to play the same position as Tribe third baseman Jose Ramirez, who finished in the top three in the American League MVP voting three of the last four years.
Ramirez, in a normal season, is going to play at least 150 games.
What is manager Terry Francona to do?
The Indians would love at some point this season to find a way to get Ramirez and Jones into a lineup that figures to be scoring challenged in 2021. For that to happen, Jones will have to convince Francona, general manager Mike Chernoff and team president Chris Antonetti he can play the outfield or first base.
Jones is playing third in the early days of spring training in Goodyear, Ariz., but eventually he will work at the other positions — something he has been preparing for since last season ended.
“Obviously, Jose Ramirez is one of the best players in baseball and it’s honestly super cool for me to get to watch him play,” Jones, 22, said Feb. 24 on Zoom from Goodyear. “To be around him is awesome. I’m just going to be where my feet are (meaning he isn’t going to look too far ahead). Obviously, Jose Ramirez is going to be at third base for a really long time. I’ve just got to keep doing me and hopefully I can find a spot on the field.”
There was no minor league baseball last season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Jones and other prospects trained at Classic Park in Eastlake at the Indians’ alternate site for the 2020 season. It was there the Indians told Jones his fastest route to the big leagues would be to learn to play a position other than third base.
“When they first told me, I was pretty excited and I knew that if I can hit and there’s a spot open — I want to play in the big leagues and don’t want to be held up,” Jones said. “It was an opportunity for a door to open for me and could potentially get my name on the lineup card.
“In the offseason we spent a lot of time in the outfield (in Arizona) just reading balls off the bat and learning how to play those balls that get caught up in the sun and playing outfield on windy days. Those guys don’t get as much credit as they deserve out there. Outfield is a really tough position. We actually spent five days a week out in the outfield and added three on in the infield.”
Jones smiled on the Zoom call and said he has four gloves for spring training — one for third, one for first and two for the outfield.
“Too many,” he said. Jones was a secondround pick by the Indians in 2016. His climb up through the farm system included 90 games with the Lake County Captains in 2018. His highest level of competition so far was 49 games with the Double-A Akron Rubber Ducks in 2019, where he hit .253 with eight home runs and 22 RBI.
Unless he really lights it up in the desert, Jones will likely start the season with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. But what he does before camp breaks in late March could determine how quickly he gets the call he’s craving.
His first mission is to prove he can play third base against Major League hitters.
“It’s not just about opening day,” Antonetti said on Zoom. “It’s ‘How do we position Nolan to have a really successful 2021 and hopefully at some point contribute to the major league team?’ That’s why we think the best way to get started on a successful 2021 is to feel comfortable in camp in the place that he’s had most of his experience, at third base. That’s why we want him to start there.
“Then if, at the right time, get him exposure to the outfield potentially later in camp, and then when the season starts we’ll see where it makes sense for Nolan to start which level and which position he plays.”
Jones is getting his chance to prove what he can do in games soon enough. The Indians open their 2021 Cactus League season at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 against the Cincinnati Reds in Goodyear.