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4/17/22

Mack - Mock Draft v3.0 - Pick 1.17 - OF - Brock Jones

 


Brock Jones 

OF      6-0     203     Stanford 

2021 Stanford stat line - 56-G, 206-AB, 59-K, .311, .646-slug, 18-HR, 62-RBI

 

3-9-22 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022-mlb-draft-top-400-prospects -

 17. Brock Jones 

Outfield, Stanford 

A two-sport stud, Jones played football at Stanford his freshman year before eventually giving it up to focus on baseball. That appears to be a good decision. An ultra-physical, muscled-up outfielder, Jones is tooled up across the board. The 6-foot, 205 pounder keeps strikeout rates healthy and he draws an immense amount of walks. Jones has a sweet, compact left-handed swing coming from a wide base with an all-fields approach. He has above average pull-side juice and can really impact a baseball into the left-centerfield gap. He’s at least an above average runner, maybe plus. He’s a solid average defender with a fringier arm; a toolset built for centerfield with more reps and seasoning. Given the athleticism and trajectory of his game, many believe Jones’ game will continue to grow and flourish as he gets more and more comfortable committing to baseball full-time. For now, it’s above average tools across the board with the exception of the throwing arm.

 

2-11-22 - https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-draft-prospects-2022-ranking-top-50-players-in-the-class-with-termarr-johnson-at-no-1/?s=03 - 

7. Brock Jones, OF, Stanford 

Jones is the biggest wild card in the class among collegiate position players. He recovered from a rough 16-game introduction in 2020 to hit .311/.453/.646 and to lead the Cardinal last season in homers (18), steals (14), and OPS (1.099). (Stanford had two hitters drafted, albeit neither earlier than the 11th round.) Jones' breakout occurred while he was splitting his energy between baseball and football, where he was a safety who played special teams. He's now ditched his athletic duality to pursue baseball unity, or, at least, to better align his play with his potential. He has an intriguing power-speed toolbox and he's shown a willingness to work counts. It must be noted that Stanford's hitters have a reputation for disappointing in the pros: Jason Castro, Jed Lowrie, and Carlos Quentin are the only Cardinal hitters to make an All-Star Game since the last round of expansion. The cave you fear to enter is supposed to hold your treasure, so some team will likely pop Jones in the top 10 if he has a good spring.

 

2-10-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-mlb-mock-draft-version-10/?s=03 - 

18. Reds — Brock Jones, OF, Stanford 

Carlos’ take: We’re in a range now where my confidence in picks is starting to fall from even the very low baseline that we started with. Because of that, I am simply going to take the best available talent on the board here and not think much of it. We currently have Jones ranked as a top 10 talent so getting him here at No. 18 feels like a good value pick for the Reds. 

Scout’s take: As far as value, I think this pick adds more athleticism to a system full of athletes. The Reds have gotten very athletic in the first round the last few years, so Jones fits their latest draft tendencies. Last year’s first-rounder and comp pick were multi-sport guys like Jones. With the need for pitching in their system, I would think they go with an arm, but there’s a shortage of healthy college arms. Since he’s available, I don’t know if they turn to a high school arm over a college bat that can play center, hit for power and is a plus runner like Jones.

 

2-4-22 - https://razzball.com/top-15-college-prospects-for-the-2022-mlb-draft/ - 

9. Brock Jones | OF | Stanford | L/L | 6-1 | 185 

It’s BJ time! As in Bring yo Jockstrap, Brock Jones is joining the party. Looking back at my way-too-early rankings, Jones and fellow NCAA outfielder Chase DeLauter probably should have made the cut — but they’re called “way too” early for a reason (more on DeLauter in a minute). Jones arrived at Stanford as a two-sport athlete, previously holding status as a safety on the Cardinal football team and seeing time as a freshman in 2020 on special teams. He has since transitioned to being a one-sport athlete, which did wonders for his bottom-line production as a sophomore in 2021. After slashing .228/.323/.316 in his debut campaign, Jones rebounded in a major way to hit .311/.453/.646 with 18 homers, 32 extra-base hits, 62 RBI, 56 runs, and 14 stolen bases as a second-year player. He struck out 22.0% of the time but also walked at an 18.3% clip. The swing-and-miss component to his game is certainly a concern, but the walk rate paints a picture of a young hitter who already knows when to pick and choose his opportunities to drive the ball. During an 11-game cameo with the USA Collegiate National Team over the summer, he posted a .242/.306/.576 batting line while being one of three players to leave the yard on multiple occasions (Gavin Cross, Jacob Berry – 4), finishing with three home runs. He has a simple and compact load, with a controlled hover step taking him to the connection point. My primary concern is that he pulls off the ball a bit and doesn’t drive through each offering enough to be truly special with the wood — but that’s a relatively easy fix. MLB Pipeline’s ranking of Jones as the No. 7 overall prospect for the 2022 MLB Draft seems overly bullish given his body of work, but the upside is there, and he’s a top-15 college talent until he gives us reason to believe otherwise. BJ out! 

 

1-15-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2022-mlb-draft-top-100-prospects/ - 

Brock Jones Stanford OF 

Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 197 | B-T: L-L

Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted

Age At Draft: 21.3 

A standout athlete out of high school, Jones ranked as the No. 478 player on the 2019 BA 500 but made it to campus at Stanford, where he was a football player for the school as a freshman. After posting mediocre numbers in the shortened 2020 season, Jones broke out in 2021, hitting .311/.453/.636 with a Pac-12-best 18 home runs. Most of Jones’ power went to the pull side, and he showed solid ability to drive 93-plus mph fastballs, but there is some swing and miss to his game—particularly against secondary offerings. Jones has a simple setup at the plate with good rhythm and bat speed, but he could do a better job keeping his hands back against breaking and offspeed stuff. Jones does seem to have a solid understanding of the zone and has walked at a 16% clip in his 72 games with Stanford. He is a solid runner who some scouts think can stick in center field thanks to that speed and his natural athleticism, though if he must move off the position in the future, a fringe-average arm might make a better fit for left than right. 

 

12-30-21 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2021/12/29/2022-mlb-draft-top-300-prospects - 

10. Brock Jones

Outfield, Stanford 

A two-sport stud, Jones played football at Stanford his freshman year before eventually giving it up to focus on baseball. That appears to be a good decision. An ultra-physical, muscled-up outfielder, Jones is tooled up across the board. The 6-foot, 205 pounder hit .311 with 18 homers and stole 14 bases in 2021. His strikeout rates remained healthy and he drew an immense amount of walks. Jones has a sweet, compact left-handed swing coming from a wide base with an all-fields approach. He has a ton of pull-side juice and can really impact a baseball into the left-centerfield gap. He’s at least an above average runner, maybe plus. He’s a solid average defender with a fringier arm; a toolset built for centerfield with more reps and seasoning. Given the athleticism and trajectory of his game, many believe Jones’ game will continue to grow and flourish as he gets more and more comfortable committing to baseball full-time. For now, it’s above average tools across the board with the exception of the throwing arm. 

 

1-5-21 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022-mlb-mock-draft - Prospect Live Mock Draft 1.0 

4. Pittsburgh Pirates

Brock Jones, Outfield, Stanford 

 

12-26-21 - Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB 

Stanford outfielder Brock Jones is as close to a 5-tool talent as you'll find in this years college class.

 

12-20-21 - Prospect Live - Centerfield - 

BROCK JONES, STANFORD 

Jones is just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of on the field. A star footballer through high school and even his freshman year in Palo Alto, the 6-foot-1-inch outfielder gave up the gridiron to focus on baseball entering the 2021 season. A defensive back with speed and physical upside, Jones has poured those physical traits into his product on the field and he appears to be ascending to new heights headed into 2022. 

In 56 games for the Cardinal this past season, Jones slashed .311/.453/.646 and hit 18 homers, stealing 14 stolen bases. It was enough to garner an invite to Team USA this summer where he’d hit three more dingers in just twelve games. Jones brings his competitive fire from the football field to his play on the diamond, dripping with well-placed ego and assertiveness. It’s one of the better power-speed combinations in the draft and the impact bat to go along with it. Jones ranked among the Top 75 in college baseball last season in terms of his peak batted ball exit velocities, as well as a keen ability to work a mature at-bat, walking almost 20 percent of his plate appearances. There’s still a good bit of swing-and-miss here, specifically with sliders and off-speed pitches, but given how green he is, it would surprise no one to see a mammoth jump in pitch recognition and the ability to hit spin this season. 

Jones has the physical tools to play centerfield at the highest level, so long as the body doesn’t get too much bigger. He’s already a muscled-up, barrel-chested guy, so keeping his mobility and athleticism will be important moving forward. If that happens, you’re talking about an impact defender and an impact bat at a premium position in pro ball.

 

1 comment:

  1. My top nine guys that i want to see the Mets get - in no particular order - Jones, Green, Lee, Johnson, Lesko, Perada, Susac, Jung, Berry. Is this Jones the next name to add? I’m thinking Ferris after that?

    ReplyDelete