Ryder Jones Stats & Scouting Report

IP	15
ERA	7.2
WHIP	1.667
BB/9	5.4
SO/9	12.6

Full name Ryder McKinley Jones
Born 06/07/1994 in Seattle, WA
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 221 / Bats: L / Throws: R
School Watauga
Debut 06/24/2017
Drafted in the 2nd round (64th overall) by the San Francisco Giants in 2013 (signed for $880,000).

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Jones has spent plenty of time around the game with his father Billy, a longtime college assistant who got his first head coaching job at Appalachian State. Ryder has performed well no matter where he has played, whether it was in the Northwest, Oklahoma or now North Carolina. He plays shortstop in high school but will move to third base because of his lack of speed and range. He has plenty of arm strength and can be a good defender at the hot corner. He has a big frame with room to add strength at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds and projects to have at least average power. He lacks bat speed, which brings up questions about his overall hitting ability. He is committed to Stanford but may be more signable than the typical Cardinal recruit. His talent would fit in the fifth or sixth round, which would not be enough to buy him out of Stanford. Jones also has the fallback of moving to the mound, where he shows a fastball in the low 90s and sharp slider.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

When a high school player signs with Stanford, scouts often look away, believing it's usually too hard (or too expensive) to convince a player to spurn the Cardinal. But the Giants managed to talk Jones, the son of Appalachian State coach Billy Jones, into signing for the slot amount of $880,000 in the second round of the 2013 draft. Jones was considered a decent prospect as a pitcher but impressed more with his bat in high school. Few scouts projected him to stick at shortstop, but the Giants have played him there regularly. Eventually, he's expected to move to third base because of his lack of foot speed. He's already a well below-average runner, though he has a plus arm. Overmatched at shortstop, Jones must prove his hands and agility can play at third. His bat is a bigger long-term concern. His swing is geared for power with natural loft, but it's a long swing and he's struggled with velocity unless he cheats against fastballs. His long levers should bring power and strikeouts. After a tough first try at low Class A Augusta, Jones may need to return to the South Atlantic League in 2015.
The son of Appalachian State baseball coach Billy Jones, Ryder must possess more than baseball smarts. He was committed to Stanford, but the Giants had a good read on his signability and the Cardinal ended up losing their first recruit since 2007. Every scout the Giants sent to watch Jones came away impressed with his contact skills and projectable power. A two-way star in high school who threw 92 mph off the mound, Jones moved from shortstop to third base and had a solid debut alongside fellow 2013 draftee Christian Arroyo in the Rookie-level Arizona League. In fact, he and Arroyo collected their first pro home runs by going back to back on July 19. Jones is solidly built, a below-average runner likely destined for an infield corner. He struggled at times while learning third base, and those sun-scorched, concrete-hard infields in the AZL didn't help. He's a pure hitter with an upright stance who has excellent barrel accuracy, a good feel for the strike zone and the chance to get stronger. Figure on Jones and Arroyo continuing to move up the ranks together, possibly at low Class A Augusta in 2014.

Draft Prospects

Jones has spent plenty of time around the game with his father Billy, a longtime college assistant who got his first head coaching job at Appalachian State. Ryder has performed well no matter where he has played, whether it was in the Northwest, Oklahoma or now North Carolina. He plays shortstop in high school but will move to third base because of his lack of speed and range. He has plenty of arm strength and can be a good defender at the hot corner. He has a big frame with room to add strength at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds and projects to have at least average power. He lacks bat speed, which brings up questions about his overall hitting ability. He is committed to Stanford but may be more signable than the typical Cardinal recruit. His talent would fit in the fifth or sixth round, which would not be enough to buy him out of Stanford. Jones also has the fallback of moving to the mound, where he shows a fastball in the low 90s and sharp slider.

Minor League Top Prospects

The son of the head baseball coach at Appalachian State, Jones went to the Giants in the second round, one round after AZL teammate Christian Arroyo. He also regularly followed Arroyo in the Giants batting order, with the two high school products forming the nucleus of the league?s most formidable team. Jones is a big lefthanded hitter who makes hard contact at the plate, with the ball jumping off his bat. He has a good hitting approach and the ability to use all fields. His swing is geared for contact rather than power now, but he has the frame to add strength and additional power in time. Speed will never be part of his game as he?s already a below-average runner. At third base, Jones doesn?t always make the routine play, but his above-average arm often gives him time to recover from bobbles on groundballs. It?s possible Jones will eventually need to move across the diamond to first base as he gets bigger.