DBacks prospect Druw Jones eyes rebound after rough debut year
Scour the baseball media’s various top prospect rankings and it might be hard to find Druw Jones’ name. The Diamondbacks’ center field prospect, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, either is clinging to the bottom of most lists or has dropped off of them entirely.
Jones says it doesn’t bother him. Diamondbacks people say the same. That said, they also do not expect those rankings to age well.
“I think we’re going to be having a different conversation at the end of 2024,” Diamondbacks Assistant General Manager Amiel Sawdaye said.
There is no denying that Jones’ professional career is off to an ugly start. It has been since Day 1, when he tore the labrum in his left shoulder on his first day at Salt River Fields after the draft. The injury required season-ending surgery.
Things did not go much better last year in his first full professional season. Starting the year in Low-A Visalia, he went just 7 for 40 (.175) before suffering a right quadriceps injury. He was nearing a return from that injury when he suffered another one in June, this time straining his right hamstring while running the bases.
When he did play, Jones exhibited mechanics at the plate that scouts found troubling, most notably a swing that gave the appearance he was bailing out of the batter’s box on inside pitches. He ended the year with a .252/.366/.351 line with two homers in 131 plate appearances in Visalia.
There were positives: He looked like a potential Gold Glove defender in center, ran the bases well and showed the makings of a decent approach at the plate. He also finished the year hitting .339 with a .938 OPS over his final 16 games. All that wasn’t enough to keep some evaluators from worrying about his overall future.
But after an offseason of adjustments at the plate, the early reviews on Jones at Diamondbacks camp — emphasis on “early” given that he has had only a handful of at-bats against live pitching — are encouraging.
“He’s been looking great,” farm director Shaun Larkin said. “He had a good offseason. He’s healthy. He’s in a really good spot mentally. A lot of the work he put in during the offseason — not only with our guys but with the people he worked with, as well — everyone is on the same page. He’s in a really, really good spot, especially for this time of year moving into the season.”
Jones, 20, likely fell down prospect lists for a variety of reasons. He certainly did not turn in the sort of year expected of the second overall pick, but he also does not compare favorably to a trio of players in his orbit.
For one, there is his father, Andruw Jones, who was a borderline Hall of Fame-caliber center fielder who had a skill set similar to his son’s; Andruw Jones had reached the majors at the same age (19) that Druw was struggling in Low-A.
There is also Jackson Holliday, the shortstop prospect whom the Orioles selected first overall in 2022, one spot before the Diamondbacks took Jones. Holliday demolished minor league pitching last year and is on perhaps the most meteoric post-draft trajectory since Mike Trout 15 years ago.
Lastly, there is outfielder Corbin Carroll, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year and the player to whom all Diamondbacks top prospects inevitably will be compared.
Jones, who could open the year back in Visalia, said it’s “cool to know” whenever he appears high on a prospect list but said he isn’t the kind of player who derives much motivation when he is omitted from such rankings.
“Not that much,” he said, when asked if it bothered him to drop off some lists. “That’s their decision. It really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. That’s not really going to decide where I play or where I bat in the lineup here. I’m just trying to come in, be a good teammate every day and do all I can for this team and this organization.”
Over the winter, that meant revamping his swing. He nodded when asked if part of the focus was on his direction.
“Yeah, and just the swing in general and getting more comfortable at the plate,” he said. “Just having those consistent at-bats, having better direction, staying on top of the ball.”
He said there was agreement from all parties that changes needed to be made.
“Obviously everybody in the organization and hitting coaches back at home and things of that nature — everybody knew, including myself,” he said. “And I just want to hold myself to a high standard and just be better this year.”
Last year, Jones had a tendency to fly open with his lower half, which threw off his balance, almost to the point where he appeared to be on his heels during his swing.
“He wants to stay over the plate,” said Hugh Quattlebaum, the Diamondbacks’ assistant director of hitting. “He wants his direction to stay through the middle of the field. If we’re getting breaking balls and staying on them and driving them the other way this year, that’s when we know we’re staying in pretty good positions with him.”
Said Larkin: “The whole package looks better offensively, for a variety of reasons. Maybe it’s the mechanics, the drill packages, understanding himself, the strength, a lot of things. The direction looks good, the mechanics look much better. He’s in a much better fundamental space than he probably was last year. It’s maybe even an approach-based thing, too.”
A year ago, Jones was still putting the finishing touches on a rehab from major shoulder surgery when camp began, then wound up missing the better part of four months with the back-to-back leg injuries. As such, health is at the forefront of most conversations about him as it pertains to what the organization would like to see from him this year.
“I think as long as he stays healthy, he still has all the natural tools,” Sawdaye said. “He’s going to have the ability to get reps. He’s been here working out and things have looked really good with Druw. Clearly, if you watch him, the defense comes natural. Baserunning, speed, the athleticism. Now he has an opportunity to really perform at the plate and control the strike zone like he did a pretty decent job of. I think we’ll be talking about a different type of player than we’re talking about right now.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Son of Andruw Jones eyes bounce-back year in Diamondbacks system
