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Greg Jones (baseball, born 1998)

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Greg Jones
Tampa Bay Rays – No. 28
Shortstop
Born: (1998-03-07) March 7, 1998 (age 26)
Cary, North Carolina
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right

Gregory Jones Jr. (born March 7, 1998) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB).[1]

Early life

Jones was born in Cary, North Carolina.[2] He is the son of Tammy and Greg Jones.[2]

Jones attended Cary High School in Cary, North Carolina.[2][3]

Career

Amateur career

As a senior at Cary High School, he batted .429 with 18 stolen bases.[4] He was ranked sixth in North Carolina and 133rd nationally by Perfect Game.[2] He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 17th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.[5] He instead chose to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he played college baseball.[5][3]

In 2018, as a freshman at UNC Wilmington, Jones played and started sixty games, batting .278 with four home runs 21 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.[6] He played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League after the season, hitting .242 in 132 at-bats.[7][8] In 2019, his sophomore year, he hit .341 with five home runs, 36 RBIs, and 42 stolen bases in 63 games, and was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year.[9][10]

Professional career

Jones was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round with the 22nd overall selection of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.[11][12] He signed with the Rays for $3 million.[13]

Jones made his professional debut with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the Low–A New York–Penn League.[14] Over 48 games, he slashed .335/.413/.461 with one home run, 24 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases.[15] Jones did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

He began the 2021 season with the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the High-A East and was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits of the Double-A South in August.[17] He missed time during the season due to a quadriceps injury.[18] Over 72 games between the two clubs, he slashed .270/.366/.482 with 14 home runs, forty RBIs, and 34 stolen bases.[19]

He opened the 2022 season back with Montgomery.[20] In 79 games for Montgomery, Jones hit .238/.318/.392 with 8 home runs, 40 RBI, and 37 stolen bases.[21] On November 15, 2022, the Rays added Jones to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[22]

Jones was optioned to the Triple-A Durham Bulls to begin the 2023 season.[23] On 71 games split between Triple–A Durham and Double–A Montgomery, he hit a cumulative .244/.318/.432 with 10 home runs, 35 RBI, and 24 stolen bases. On September 16, 2023, Jones was placed on the 60–day injured list with a hamstring injury, ending his season.[24]

Honors and awards

References

  1. ^ "Greg Jones Stats & Scouting Report". Baseball America. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Greg Jones - Baseball". UNC Wilmington Athletics. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  3. ^ a b Leighton, Aram (2021-08-30). "Greg Jones Is Turning Projection Into Production". Just Baseball. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  4. ^ Blake, J. Mike (June 25, 2017). "N&O All-Metro baseball team and final top 25 rankings – 2017". News and Observer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  5. ^ a b Tucker, Hank (June 14, 2017). "MLB Draft 2017 Day 3: Where North Carolina baseball players end up in Rounds 11-40". The News and Observer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  6. ^ Riley, Alex (February 16, 2019). "UNCW's Jones remains a reluctant superstar". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  7. ^ Zielinski III, Dan (February 21, 2019). "Greg Jones is an intriguing draft-eligible sophomore". The 3rd Man In. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  8. ^ "#2 Greg Jones - Profile". Point Streak. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Chandler, Joey (May 21, 2019). "UNCW shortstop Greg Jones named CAA Player of the Year". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  10. ^ "Fiers goes 6, Olson and Davis homer as A's beat Rays 4-3". ABC7 San Francisco. June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  11. ^ Chandler, Austin (February 11, 2019). "Seahawk Spectacular: Greg Jones enters draft-eligible sophomore year". The Seahawk. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  12. ^ Smist, John (June 4, 2019). "UNCW's Greg Jones selected by Tampa Bay in the first round of MLB draft". WECT News 6. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  13. ^ Topkin, Marc (June 11, 2019). "Rays sign top pick Greg Jones for slot-value $3,027,000". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  14. ^ "Top draftees, prospects begin short-season play". MLB.com. June 14, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  15. ^ Brian Stultz, Brian (September 4, 2019). "Jones' two-run shot powers Renegades". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  16. ^ Adler, David (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  17. ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Receives promotion to Double-A". CBS Sports. August 10, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  18. ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Could be out two-plus months". CBS Sports. March 28, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  19. ^ Grauer, Scott (12 October 2021). "Rays prospects and minor leagues: Wrapping up the season". DRaysBay. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  20. ^ Kennedy, Jahmal (May 1, 2022). "Greg's journey: 'Only sport I ever played in my whole life'". WFSA. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  21. ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Shielded from Rule 5 draft". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  22. ^ "Rays Show Belief In Greg Jones With 40-Man Spot". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  23. ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Optioned to minors camp". cbssports.com. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  24. ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Lands on 60-day injured list". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
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