It’s not really a surprise to me, but Jacque Jones has quietly become a better player –certainly a better hitter, and I’d argue a better all-around player– than Torii Hunter. Jones is as competitive and driven as Hunter is easy going, and he works as hard as anybody on the team to get better. He can be moody and defensive in the clubhouse, but his moods are driven as much by team failure as personal frustration, and he can also be one of the most thoughtful and engaging guys in the game. In a clubhouse full of relatively mellow and gregarious characters, his passion for baseball and his determination to play hurt and be a better all-around player stick out like a sore thumb, and right now this team could use a lot more of his fiery personality.
I wrote those words on May 28th of last season, and Jones immediately proceeded to make me look like a complete idiot. I’m accustomed to looking like a complete idiot, but I was nonetheless disappointed in the extended swoon that ruined what was at the time looking like a breakout year for Jones.
I spent the rest of the season trying to figure out what went wrong. I picked Jacque’s brain, and talked about his struggles with Torii Hunter and hitting coach Scott Ullger. Everybody just kept saying he was going to turn it around, but from where I was sitting it looked like he slipped back into some bad habits. When Jones is heading into a slump you can see it coming from a mile away. Pitchers start working him in and out, get him tentative and off balance, and then when they get ahead in the count –and Jones is always trying to battle back from pitcher’s counts when he’s fighting himself– they get him to flail at fastballs up in his eyes or sliders in the dirt. When he did manage to work the count in his favor, pitchers knew they still didn’t have to throw him a strike because he was swinging at anything. It was an ugly thing to watch, particularly since I know how hard the guy works to get better and how frustrated he gets when he can’t seem to figure the game out.
Last year there were a number of aggravating circumstances that contributed to Jones’ rough season; his father was dying, he’d been the subject of trade rumors for two seasons, and Jason Kubel was breathing down his neck.
I’ve never liked to believe that impending free agency can somehow motivate guys to play better –or not necessarily motivate, because, sure, the motivation is certainly there, but actually push them to play better. That seems counter-intuitive to me, particularly for a guy like Jones, whose struggles have always seemed to be precisely a product of pressing. I’ve also seen Jones have enough hot streaks to know that it’s never a good idea to read too much into these stretches.
This year, though, seems to be different from other years. You sense that maybe something has finally clicked for him. It’s apparent in the clubhouse, and it’s becoming equally apparent on the field. The guy is tied for the team lead in walks (and has walked as often as he’s struck out), and I don’t ever recall a stretch where he’s taken so many pitches. He’s been terrific against lefties, and is more balanced at the plate than I’ve ever seen him. All of his old anxious movement is, at least for the time being, gone. He’s keeping his hands still, and staying behind the ball, rather than jumping at pitches out of the strike zone. Watch the way he keeps his head down right up until the moment he starts his swing. This approach has resulted in a much quicker bat, and the ability to hit the ball where it’s pitched.
Particularly encouraging has been the way he follows a bad at-bat –and he had a couple rough trips to the plate tonight– with a good at-bat. He’s still diving for those balls on the outside corner in the dirt, but I can’t recall an occasion so far where he’s screwed himself into the ground trying to handle that high and tight pitch. There have been times in the last few seasons, extended periods, when you pretty much could gauge the kind of game Jones was going to have after his first at-bat. So far he looks like a completely different player from the guy we saw in the second half last year. It’s been fun to watch, and I’d be thrilled to see him put it all together and sustain this kind of productivity over a full season, even if it ultimately means he goes somewhere else to make his millions.
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