Greg Jones (baseball, born 1998)
| Greg Jones | |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: March 7, 1998 Cary, North Carolina | |
Bats: Switch Throws: Right |
Gregory Jones Jr. (born March 7, 1998) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Amateur career
Jones attended Cary High School in Cary, North Carolina. As a senior, he batted .429 with 18 stolen bases.[1] He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 17th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft,[2] but did not sign and instead chose to attend the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he played college baseball.[2]
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.[3] He played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League after the season, hitting .242 in 132 at-bats.[4][5] In 2019, his sophomore year, he hit .341 with five home runs, 36 RBIs, and 42 stolen bases in 63 games,[6] and was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year.[7]
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.[8][9] He signed with the Rays for $3 million.[10]
Jones made his professional debut with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League.[11] Over 48 games, he slashed .335/.413/.461 with one home run, 24 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases.[12] Jones did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] 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.[14] He missed time during the season due to a quadriceps injury.[15] Over 72 games between the two clubs, he slashed .270/.366/.482 with 14 home runs, forty RBIs, and 34 stolen bases.[16]
References
- ^ "N&O All-Metro baseball team and final top 25 rankings – 2017 | News & Observer". Archived from the original on 2017-06-29.
- ^ a b "MLB Draft 2017 Day 3: Where North Carolina baseball players end up in Rounds 11-40 | News & Observer". Archived from the original on 2017-06-17.
- ^ Staff, Alex Riley StarNews. "UNCW's Jones remains a reluctant superstar". Wilmington Star News.
- ^ "Greg Jones is an intriguing draft-eligible sophomore". The 3rd Man In. February 21, 2019.
- ^ "#2 Greg Jones - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ "Fiers goes 6, Olson and Davis homer as A's beat Rays 4-3". ABC7 San Francisco. June 12, 2019.
- ^ Staff, Joey Chandler StarNews. "UNCW shortstop Greg Jones named CAA Player of the Year". Wilmington Star News.
- ^ Chandler, Austin. "Seahawk Spectacular: Greg Jones enters draft-eligible sophomore year".
- ^ Smist, John. "UNCW's Greg Jones selected by Tampa Bay in first round of MLB draft". www.wect.com.
- ^ "Rays sign top pick Greg Jones for slot-value $3,027,000". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ "Top draftees, prospects begin short-season play". MLB.com.
- ^ Greg Jones powers Renegades in NYPL opener | MiLB.com
- ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com.
- ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Receives promotion to Double-A - CBSSports.com".
- ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Could be out two-plus months - CBSSports.com".
- ^ "Rays prospects and minor leagues: Wrapping up the season - DRaysBay". 12 October 2021.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- UNC Wilmington bio
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