The Cleveland Guardians need more production from Nolan Jones.
That’s why it was so refreshing to watch him finally get out of his slump on Wednesday night’s 9-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
With two hits in his first at-bats, he snapped a 0-for-13 slump to record his fourth multi-hit game of the young season.
Jones struggled mightily through the first 37 games of the campaign, but that was clearly a step in the right direction, and hopefully, he will be able to build on that.
Even though, as disappointing as he’s been, Joe Noga of Cleveland.com reports there’s a silver lining:
“[Nolan] Jones had struggled to a .152 batting average entering the finale against Milwaukee with a .554 OPS and two home runs. His RBI single in the fourth inning gave him seven runs driven in on the season. Despite the low output, Jones remains among the best in the majors in average exit velocity (96th percentile) and hard-hit percentage (88th percentile) according to Statcast,” Noga said.
Jones made his 12th appearance and sixth start at center field in the loss, and he was all over the place on defense.
He almost robbed Jake Bauers in the second inning before his drive to left center popped out of his glove.
That led to an RBI double.
Then, three innings later, he crashed into the wall when he tried to rob Sal Frelick’s home run.
Nevertheless, if he’s not doing much to help the team on offense and doesn’t do his job on defense either, there are simply not many incentives to keep him out there.
Hopefully, this strong offensive performance will be the beginning of a hot streak.
Otherwise, it will be very difficult to justify his presence in the lineup.
NEXT: Guardians Top Prospect Rediscovers His Power Stroke In Rehab Game
