Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Associated Press
BRADENTON, FLA.
Maybe Garrett Jones simply got tired of being labeled a minor league lifer.
Blessed with what Pittsburgh Pirates manager John Russell calls a low-maintenance swing, Jones produced constantly in the minor leagues, yet kept getting overlooked. First baseman Adam LaRoche passed him by in the Braves’ organization, Justin Morneau passed him with the Twins.
Jones hit 31 home runs in the minors at age 23, 24 at age 24 — 76 in a three-season span. It didn’t matter. Prospect after prospect kept getting called up, but Jones stayed at Triple-A Rochester.
“Everybody takes different routes, but ...” Jones said.
Even that sweet swing couldn’t seem to get him out of the minors. Playing winter ball in Venezuela didn’t help. At least not until one of the majors’ worst teams finally gave him a no-risk, no-obligation opportunity to prove he could hit big league pitching.
After signing as a minor league free agent last year, Jones hit 21 homers in 314 at-bats for the Pirates at age 28, making fans wonder what he might accomplish over a full season.
They’re about to find out. So is he.
“After you’ve had that pressure on you, you have the expectations that you have to have a big season the next season,” Jones said. “But I feel like I don’t have any pressure going into this season. Just go play, stay focused like I did last year, have fun and let the numbers take care of themselves.”
Those numbers — .293 average, 21 homers, 44 RBIs and a .567 slugging percentage in 82 games following his July 1 recall — excite the Pirates, even if they’re not ready to predict that they project into 40 homers over 162 games.
“He’s got tremendous power to all fields,” Russell said. “He’s a definite threat.”
For now, the Pirates will send him to right field most days, plug him into the No. 3 spot in the batting order — directly behind Andrew McCutchen — and hope that low-maintenance swing keeps producing.
The left handed-hitting Jones was drafted 11 years ago by the Braves, but spent eight years in the minors before being called up, and that was for only 31 games with Minnesota in 2007.
“[McCutchen], being a first-rounder and a great athlete, he got moved up a little quicker,” Jones said. “Me, I needed a little more time to develop. I did it at the minor league level instead of the big league level. But he has so much potential, and I still feel like I have a lot to work on and improve on.”