Greg Jones (shortstop)
Gregory Jones Jr. (born March 7, 1998) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.[1]
| Greg Jones | |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays – No. 28 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: March 7, 1998 Cary, North Carolina | |
Bats: Switch Throws: Right |
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 Class A Short Season 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 a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation caused by 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]
Honors and awards
- 2018 All-Rookie Team, Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2018 All-Tournament, Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2019 First-team All-State[2]
- 2019 Bryan Britt Award, University of North Carolina Wilmington[2]
- 2019 All-Tournament, Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2019 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2019 All-America (Third team), National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association[2]
- 2019 All-America (Third team), American Baseball Coaches Association[2]
- 2019 Player of the Year, Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2019 First-team All-Colonial Athletic Association[2]
- 2019 First-Team All-East, American Baseball Coaches Association[2]
References
- ^ "Greg Jones Stats & Scouting Report". Baseball America. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Leighton, Aram (2021-08-30). "Greg Jones Is Turning Projection Into Production". Just Baseball. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- ^ Blake, J. Mike (June 25, 2017). . News and Observer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
- ^ a b Tucker, Hank (June 14, 2017). . The News and Observer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
- ^ Riley, Alex (February 16, 2019). "UNCW's Jones remains a reluctant superstar". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Zielinski III, Dan (February 21, 2019). "Greg Jones is an intriguing draft-eligible sophomore". The 3rd Man In. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "#2 Greg Jones - Profile". Point Streak. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Chandler, Joey (May 21, 2019). "UNCW shortstop Greg Jones named CAA Player of the Year". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "Fiers goes 6, Olson and Davis homer as A's beat Rays 4-3". ABC7 San Francisco. June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Chandler, Austin (February 11, 2019). "Seahawk Spectacular: Greg Jones enters draft-eligible sophomore year". The Seahawk. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Topkin, Marc (June 11, 2019). "Rays sign top pick Greg Jones for slot-value $3,027,000". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "Top draftees, prospects begin short-season play". MLB.com. June 14, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Brian Stultz, Brian (September 4, 2019). "Jones' two-run shot powers Renegades". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- ^ Adler, David (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Receives promotion to Double-A". CBS Sports. August 10, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ "Rays' Greg Jones: Could be out two-plus months". CBS Sports. March 28, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Grauer, Scott (12 October 2021). "Rays prospects and minor leagues: Wrapping up the season". DRaysBay. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
- ^ Kennedy, Jahmal (May 1, 2022). "Greg's journey: 'Only sport I ever played in my whole life'". WFSA. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference (Minors)