{"id":19890,"date":"2022-07-20T06:02:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T06:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/druw-jones-deal-with-d-backs\/"},"modified":"2022-07-20T06:02:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T06:02:42","slug":"druw-jones-deal-with-d-backs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/druw-jones-deal-with-d-backs\/","title":{"rendered":"Druw Jones deal with D-backs"},"content":{"rendered":"
PHOENIX — It didn’t take the D-backs long to reach an agreement with outfielder Druw Jones, their first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, as the two sides have agreed to an $8,189,400 bonus, a source told MLB.com’s Jim Callis. The club has not confirmed the agreement, which is pending a physical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
That is the full slot value for the No. 2 pick and the largest Draft bonus given to a high school player, topping the previous record of $7.7 million that Bobby Witt Jr. received from the Royals in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Jones, the son of five-time MLB All-Star Andruw Jones, was ranked as the No. 1 Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. In his senior season at Georgia’s Wesleyan High School, Jones hit .445 with a 1.494 OPS, 16 home runs and 14 steals in 38 games before being named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“I’m just ready to go out there and play for a type of organization that is ready for young guys to be able to pursue their career and win a championship,\u201d Jones said after being drafted Sunday night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
This is the second straight year the D-backs have nabbed a player who was ranked among the top three prospects by MLB Pipeline heading into the Draft. In 2021, shortstop Jordan Lawlar was ranked third and taken sixth overall by Arizona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
After being selected, Jones spoke about the D-backs’ desire to build a championship around a core of young players, and that group is beginning to come into focus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Center fielder Alek Thomas, right fielder Daulton Varsho and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo are already contributing at the big league level, and another first-round pick, outfielder Corbin Carroll, who was selected in the 2019 Draft, dominated at Double-A Amarillo and was promoted to Triple-A Reno just prior to the All-Star break.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
That is a rapid rise, especially considering there were no Minor League games in 2020, then Carroll missed all but a few games of the ’21 season because of a right shoulder injury. He’s now one step away from putting on a D-backs uniform, something that could happen in September, or at the latest, next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Lawlar, too, is moving quickly, jumping from Single-A Visalia to High-A Hillsboro before the break, and both he and Carroll represented the D-backs in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Then, there are the pitchers Arizona has drafted since 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Tommy Henry, Ryne Nelson and Drey Jameson are with Triple-A Reno, while Brandon Pfaadt, Bryce Jarvis, Slade Cecconi and Blake Walston are with Double-A Amarillo. Six of the seven are among the top 10 in MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the Arizona farm system, and the one that isn’t (Henry) is at No. 13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
While the pitchers’ numbers may not look overly impressive at the moment, consider that both Reno and Amarillo are extremely hitter-friendly parks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“The first half, you get beaten up a little bit,” D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom said. “Fly balls are flying all over the place and going out, and you get a little discouraged. But now, they’re starting to hone back in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“The walk rates have gone down, the percentage of first-pitch strikes has gone up, winning the first three pitches has gone up — getting two out of the first three pitches be strikes, or at least creating contact. All those different metrics that our front office provides give us a better picture of who we might get if and when they come here.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
There are no guarantees when it comes to prospects, but out of quantity comes quality, and the D-backs have done a nice job of building that depth through the Draft. The past three days have been a continuation of that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“I think it’s just a testament to all the work that our scouts and all of our front-office people, our analysts, have done,” Arizona scouting director Ian Rebhan said. “We’re just incredibly thorough. I think our process has been great. It’s always nice when you see results on the field and that exciting group of prospects that we have in the Minor Leagues.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHOENIX — It didn’t take the D-backs long to reach an agreement with outfielder Druw Jones, their first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, as the two sides have agreed to an $8,189,400 bonus, a source told MLB.com’s Jim Callis. The club has not confirmed the agreement, which is pending a physical. That is the …<\/p>\n