Cleveland Indians: Overthinking baseball in February

3B Nolan Jones

This week the Indians’ top prospect, third baseman Nolan Jones, was informed that he would be participating in MLB camp. If you’re a little down on Zimmer or even the rumors surrounding Francisco Lindor, then I’d highly encourage you to make time to watch Jones this spring.

Jones played against the Padres and White Sox this week. Defensively, he looks ready for MLB. He picked some difficult grounders, and showed his arm strength on accurate throws while running, as well as from deep in his position. It also didn’t hurt his case when Christian Arroyo replaced him against San Diego and was tagged for an error on his first defensive attempt.

Offensively, Jones got at-bats against Paddack and McRae much like Reyes. Against San Diego he went 0-for-1 with a walk, and 1-for-2 with another walk against the White Sox. The impressive piece of his week had to be his at-bat against Paddack. Jones didn’t look like the Double-A player who was out-matched against a major-league ace. Jones drew a lot of pitches, and looked the part of an MLB player.

That momentum carried over, and he’s been putting together long at-bats. The walks will get him high grades from the Indians front office, and the fact that he is already looking ready for more competition offensively makes me believe his time is coming sooner than later.

When you get a little down about all the Lindor rumors, it’s important to take pause and see that this team has reinforcements on their way. It may not be the same as Lindor, but Jones appears to offer a lot of upside at one of the premier positions when his time is called upon.