Jones flourishing at plate with Hillcats
When Nolan Jones was promoted to the Carolina League, he tried too hard to prove the Indians were justified in pushing him up a level. But he found his eagerness to please resulted in impatient plate appearances and swinging at pitches out of the zone. After about a week, he settled
When Nolan Jones was promoted to the Carolina League, he tried too hard to prove the Indians were justified in pushing him up a level. But he found his eagerness to please resulted in impatient plate appearances and swinging at pitches out of the zone.
After about a week, he settled down and reverted back to the hitting style that earned him the callup in the first place. And as it turns out, that approach makes him a pretty good hitter.
Gameday box score
The second-ranked Indians prospect homered and finished with three hits and four RBIs to lead Class A Advanced Lynchburg past Potomac, 7-6, in 10 innings Wednesday night at Calvin Falwell Field.
Jones doubled, scored twice and fell a triple shy of the cycle during his fourth multi-hit performance in five games.
The 20-year-old was sent up to the Hillcats for one game on July 23 and he returned to Class A Lake County the next day. He earned another promotion to the Carolina League on Aug. 4, and he has hit .317 with a 1.013 OPS in 18 games with the Hillcats. Jones posted a .279/.393/.464 slash line with 18 homers and 49 RBIs in 90 Midwest League games.
Hitting well on the circuit has been validation for the Langhorne, Pennsylvania, native.
"Sometimes guys adjust right away, but I think I was just trying to do too much," Jones said of his first week with Lynchburg. "I think being able to stick to my approach and trust myself plays into that and my swing working at another level obviously feels great."
Hillcats hitting coach Justin Toole echoed that sentiment.
"He's been phenomenal since coming up here," Toole said. "I think the first week up here, he was trying to settle in and do too much at times and chasing pitches out of the zone. But he's done a great job since then of being patient and waiting for his pitch, and when a pitcher sure does make a mistake, he takes advantage of it. It's been sure fun to watch and a lot of fun to work with him since he's been up here."
Toole mentioned that Jones can still work on more efficient with his movements at the plate and becoming more concise with his plans.
"I think he's pretty advanced for a young hitter, and while there's some things I think he can work on, I think he understands that the reason he's had success is he's embraced some of the stuff throughout the season that he wanted to get better at," Toole said. "His power numbers have been phenomenal, his strike-zone discipline has been improved. I think he's found out his identity as a hitter."
The second-round pick out of Holy Ghost Prep comes from an athletic family, with an older brother, Peyton, who is a goaltender at Penn State and a younger sister, Liana, who is committed to play softball at Penn State in 2021. In their parents Tom and Regina's backyard in Langhorne is a batting cage and in the basement is a cement roller hockey rink. The two brothers often helped each other sharpen their respective crafts growing up, with Nolan peppering shots to Peyton in net and his older brother returning the favor by assisting in the cage.
"I tell him all the time, I wouldn't be where I am without him," Nolan said of his brother. "And he says the same thing to me. ... We were always there challenging each other, we were there for each other. ... Both of our parents have also always been there for us and supported our decisions, which has been huge. It means a whole lot for us."
There was a point in Jones' life he thought the ice might be his calling growing up, but he pumped the breaks on his hockey career after sustaining a few injuries as a freshman in high school. Once he wasn't playing hockey year-round, he started to focus on baseball.
"I think for me, I always thought I was a little better at hockey," Jones said.
The Indians should be glad he switched his focus, as MLB Pipeline rates him with a 55-grade hit and power tool on the 20-80 scouting scale with a patient approach. What makes Jones equally impressive for Toole is his mental approach.
"The expectations for a young, good hitter like that can be high, but he's exceeded those expectations," Toole said. "But I think the most impressive part of him is the type of kid he is, his work ethic and his personality. Being able to do what he's been able to do with helping our ballclub has been tremendous. I think he has a bright future. There's still a long way to go and things that he can work on, but he's got the right mentality."
The 20-year-old opened the scoring with an RBI single to right field off Potomac starter Kyle Johnston -- Washington's No. 22 prospect -- in the first inning. He helped chase the right-hander out of the game with a two-run homer to right-center in the third. Jones grounded out in the fourth and seventh before coming through in the 10th.
After the Nationals scored a run on a wild pitch by Dalbert Siri in the 10th to go up, 6-5, Jones laced a double to center to plate Tyler Friis with the tying run. He was sacrificed to third by Gavin Collins and scored on Trenton Brooks' sacrifice fly.
Lynchburg starter Tanner Tully was charged with four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. Ben Krauth yielded three hits and a walk with six punchouts in three innings of relief. Kyle Nelson (2-0) retired the last batter in the 10th for the win.
Rhett Wiseman went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Bryan Mejia chipped in three singles.
Johnston allowed five runs on three hits and matched his career high with six walks while fanning four in 2 1/3 innings. Relievers Carlos Acevedo and Hayden Howard combined to surrender one hit and a walk with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 frames.
Steven Fuentes (3-3) was saddled with the loss after yielding two runs -- one earned -- on one hit with three strikeouts in two innings.
Josh Horton is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @joshhortonMiLB
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