Connor Jones | RHP
Background
The 21-year-old Jones is from Chesapeake and he currently pitches for Virginia. He spent his freshman year in the bullpen before moving into the rotation as a sophomore. This spring Jones has a 2.05 ERA with 65 strikeouts and 33 walks in 92 1/3 innings. He was a possible first round pick out of high school in 2013 had he been considered signable. A strong college commitment caused Jones to slide to the 21st round (Padres).
Scouting Report
Jones, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 lbs., pitches off a heavy sinker with a ton of movement in the 88-95 mph range. He’s thrown even harder out of the bullpen. The sinker moves so much that he has trouble locating it. It’s one of those pitches you can just throw down the middle and let the movement do the rest. Jones also throws an inconsistent mid-80s slider that looks like a true out pitch on its best days. His changeup is just okay. Between his work out of the bullpen as his freshman and his two years as a workhorse starter, Jones has earned the bulldog label.
Miscellany
MLB.com and Baseball America ranked Jones as the 16th and 22nd best prospect in the draft class, respectively. Keith Law (subs. req’d) is not as high on him. He had him 57th. The Yankees pick 18th and 62nd. It’s worth noting Virginia pitchers have a poor track in pro ball. Recent high picks like Nathan Kirby (40th overall in 2015), Nick Howard (19th in 2014), Branden Kline (65th in 2012), and Danny Hultzen (2nd in 2011) all got hurt and/or saw their performance take a big step back after leaving Virginia. That doesn’t mean Jones is doomed to fail, but that track record could scare some teams away.
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