Guardians Option Nolan Jones To Triple-A

Nolan Jones has been optioned down to Columbus after going through a rough patch.

Nolan Jones was called up back on July 8 and started off on a hot streak. His first Big League hit came in his first game and was an RBI single against the Royals and he even hit his first home run the next day. 

Jones ended up finishing the month of July with a .286 batting average and a .482 slugging. He also showed some potential in right field.

However, the month of August has not been as kind to Nolan. He's currently batting .167 and has only been able to put together five hits, three of them coming in one game against Toronto. The most concerning part is that he is starting to strike out at an alarming rate. He's struck out 14 times this month which includes at least one strikeout in every game but one. 

Now Jones finds himself being sent back down to Triple-A Columbus. But there may be more to it than just his performance at the plate. 

Nolan is at the point in his Big League career where in order to get better, it's going to need to happen at the Major League level. He proved earlier this season that he is able to light up Minor League pitching. 

So why send him back down?

Perhaps the organization wants to give him some more reps and practice at a new position before having him play their full-time in the Big League. Could that be at first base? 

Shifting him to first certainly does make sense. Will Benson has been up with the team for three weeks now but hasn't been able to get any consistent playing time because of the outfield log jam they have.

The decision on why the Guardians made this move will become clearer soon. But for now, Jones will be able to get consistent playing time and at-bats in Columbus which could help him get back into a groove. 

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