D-backs Top 40 Prospects in 2024: No. 7 Druw Jones

The star prospect outfielder had a successful year as he stayed healthy, made the Future's Game, and performed well

Visalia Rawhide's Druw Jones rounds third Tuesday, April 11, 2023 against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. 0411 Bb Rc Rawhide 7656t / Ron Holman / Visalia Times-Delta / USA TODAY NETWORK

This article is part of a series reviewing the seasons of the top 40 prospects still in the Arizona Diamondbacks system as of the end of 2024.

Druw Jones, RHB - Centerfielder, DOB: 11/28/2003, 6'4, 180

Acquired: Round 1 Pick, Pick No. 2 Overall in 2022 MLB Draft

The Diamondbacks drafted the highly touted Druw Jones second overall out of high school in Georgia in 2022 and foresaw him becoming a true five-tool talent that could be a regular All-Star in center field.

Unfortunately, his first year and half in the organization was plagued with injury, and when he was available, the play was lackluster. However, 2024 proved to be different as he was healthy and finally started to impact the ball at the plate instead of just in the field.

At just 20 years old, Jones struggled badly at the plate to begin the season. Over his first eight games, he had a .129 average and struck out an eye-popping 21 times, including five in one game. It was a ghastly start to the season.

On April 17, he tripled and turned around his season as he finished April and the last nine games with a .357 batting average and eight walks against eight strikeouts. It was a vastly improved stretch of play from Jones.

Over the next two and half months from May to July 11, Jones parlayed his Gold Glove defense, arm and speed into hitting consistently. Over 53 games, he hit .287 with an .830 OPS in an offensively challenged California League. He walked 37 times to 58 strikeouts.

While the strikeouts were still a large issue as his swing's holes got found a little too often, he was learning the strike zone and taking more walks, which was a big learning curve to accomplish.

He was named to the NL Future's Roster to represent the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Future's Game at All-Star Week in Texas, and he started the game in center field.

Once that was over, it was back to Single-A with the Visalia Rawhide where he would finish the season with them. His final 41 games of the season were quite good.

Over that span, he hit .284 and had a good OPS of .834. He walked 40 times against 45 strikeouts, a good sign for his eye at the plate while his strikeouts were leveling out at roughly one per game unlike before. He had 12 stolen bases as his speed became a larger part of his game.

However, his BABIP during this time of .411 is quite high and screams that it will go down in the future as that number is just unsustainable.

In total on the season across 109 games, Jones slashed .275/.409/.405 with an OPS of .813. He struggled to hit for power this year as he had just 15 doubles, eight triples, and only six home runs. 21 stolen bases were a good indicator of his speed, however.

That explains why his on-base percentage is higher than his slugging rate, as he walked at a rate of 18%, an astonishingly good number. At the other end of the spectrum, he struck out at an unsustainable rate of 28%.

That is just too high a number for Jones to be able to experience sustained success in the higher levels of the minors or in MLB.

Despite that, his wRC+ was still a strong 125, 25% better than the league average of the California League which indicates how strong an offensive season he had.

Besides adjusting his swing in order to make more and harder contact, and eliminate holes, Jones needs to focus on learning how to tap into his pull power.

He pulled the ball just 33.5% of the time. Meanwhile, he hit the ball to the opposite field 40.6% of the time. It's harder to hit for power to the opposite field which creates another potential issue for him in the future when he faces tougher pitchers.

One other issue that was noticeable this year was Jones' penchant for hitting the ball on the ground. He hit a ground ball 57.2% of the time, a much too high of a rate that will lead to a much lower batting average as he climbs the levels.

He only hit a line drive 21.4% of the time. That number must get higher if he is to experience success in MLB or higher levels.

2025 Outlook

It's probable that Druw Jones will start 2025 at High-A. He's played two seasons at Single-A albeit with a lot of missed time due to injury. He experienced success with the Visalia Rawhide and there doesn't seem to be much more he could accomplish there.

However, without a swing change that will allow him to lift the ball more, pull the ball, and lessen his strikeouts, he's still a few years away from Chase Field.

Jones is a high-talent player that could play in MLB right now if his bat was even a 75 wRC+ MLB bat. However, it isn't up to a par right now that would enable Arizona to get his 70-grade arm and Gold Glove caliber glove in center field yet.

He's still two years away at minimum, but he's only 20 years old. There's plenty of time for the Diamondbacks to develop him and get him to the level he needs to be in order to be a perennial leader on a blossoming and young future D-backs team.