February 24th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman Outfielder Matt Jones was selected by the Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2014 First year Player Draft out of Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Nebraska. He was the 759th overall pick in the draft.
Jones was born in Omaha, Nebraska and attended Greta High School in the city of Gretna located about 22 miles from Omaha. In his senior year at Greta High in 2012 he was named first-team All-Central Region by Rawlings. On the season with the Gretna Dragons he hit .422 with seven doubles, two triples and two home runs while driving in 18 runs and scoring another 22. Following the season Jones, who pitched and played the outfield – succumbed to Tommy John Surgery on his right elbow.
After his senior high school year Jones enrolled at the Nebraska University of Nebraska – Lincoln and redshirted in what would have been his first season with the Huskers while studying and rehabbing from his Tommy John Surgery. His season was still a productive one in that he made the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the spring of 2013.
Jones transferred to Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas for the 2014 season. He had a standout season with the Hutchinson Blue Dragons in their Dodger look-alike home uniforms. He led his team with 10 home runs while hitting .372 and driving in 50 runs.
Matt Jones
(Photo credit – Dennis Montgomery)
On the season the left-hand hitter had a triple slash of .368 / .538 / .609 which was aided not only by his production with the bat but also by Ron Hunt-type numbers in being hit by a pitch. He led the National Junior College Athletic Association by being hit 40 times in 241 plate appearances. Not surprisingly, his OBP of .538 was the fourth highest in the Association. Jones explained the oddity.
“Sometimes they miss pitches inside and they hit me,” Jones told Kyle McCaskey of The Hutchinson News. “Other times, it just happens to be first pitch – I’ll step in there looking for an inside fastball – and they’ll hit me in the leg, hit me in the ribs or something. It’s kind of a funny stat.”
Having been redshirted in 2013, Jones had one more year of college eligibility but decided to enter the MLB First Year Player Draft in 2014.
Jones immediately stands out among his teammates … literally. He’s 6’-7” and weights 250 pounds. As an outfielder and first baseman he immediately draws a comparison with former Dodger Frank Howard, although “Hondo” (as Howard was called) only got hit by a pitch 33 times in his 16-year MLB career and 6,488 plate appearances. Howard also stood 6’-7” tall and weighed in at 255.
Jones began his professional career on July 1, 2014 with the Arizona League Dodgers. He had a bit of a slow start to his career, hitting only .182 in 23 games with only two extra base hits. His 2015 season with the Pioneer League Ogden Raptors painted a much different picture, as Jones hit an even .300 with 18 doubles, 3 triples and 11 home runs while driving in 47 runs and scoring 50 in 67 games. His .513 slugging percentage was the eighth-best in the league. He had 24 multiple hit games including six with three hits and had only two HBP in 267 plate appearances.
On the season he split his time evenly between first base and the outfield. Against the Orem Owlz on August 22 and 23, Jones hit three home runs and went 6 for 10 with six RBI in the two games.
“I give credit to Brink (hitting coach Darryl Brinkley),” Jones said. “He’s put a lot of effort toward me, giving me a lot of time out of his day to help me with mine. Just little things – slowing the game down, seeing the ball, trying not to do too much.”
“Jones just needed to make sure he is ready to crush every pitch away – every pitch away,” Brinkley said. “I give him a little leeway of being a little bit long on the pitch away, but he has to be short in and he has to keep his head on the ball.”
I expect Matt Jones to start the 2016 season with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League. That may well create a repeat of the 2015 outfield combination from the Ogden Raptors as he again teams up with outfield partners Michael Medina, Alex Santana and Jordan Paroubeck. Perhaps he will will work more exclusively at first base and share the base with 2015 teammate Scott De Jong until one or both of them gets a call up to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League.
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Author’s Note: After one season in the Dodgers organization as a hitting coach, Darryl Brinkley was released.
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Never heard of him. He may be a legitimate slugger but that picture depicts a broken bat or a lazy fly ball to right field.
I hope he’s good. If he is, he should move up quickly.
Badger – no broken bat in the video. Matt has to take the same route through the system as all other prospects. He is a great kid with a good work ethic. I expect him to get a shot in RC at some point during the season.
Playing time with the Loons will be at a premium. Michael Medina, Alex Santana and Jordan Paroubeck also in the outfield. Scott De Jong and Justin Chigbogu at 1B although I expect Chigbogu to have an extended ST at CBR.
LOLZ. Seriously Badger? Did you even watch the video?
But you’re right, he does indeed have a great hand and arm extension through the zone and excellent hip and waist movement.
#smh
I really like his head down and eyes on the ball when making contact.
Did I watch the video? Yes. Is that picture the same swing in the video? I really doubt it.
In that picture the ball is below the label and not on the grain. It missed the sweet spot by over a foot. If that guy can hit that ball to the top of a scoreboard he’d be in my lineup today.
Left-handed Frank Howard?
That was absolutely my first though. The 1960 NL Rookie of the Year and a really quiet and extremely funny man.
Can’t wait to see him at ST! – Matt Jones, that is. (Although I’d love to see Hondo again too).
Guys like Matt don’t come along very often, but when they do, they are certainly worth keeping an eye on – guys like Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche (to name only a few).
Yes, they have a tendency to strike out a lot and often end up with .240 to .250-ish career batting averages, but they generally put up 30-40 HRS a season and are always a HR threat.
Jones is yet another example of the Dodgers’ efforts to rebuild the minor league system with other than pitching. That being said, Matt definitely has his work cut out for him if he wants to get ahead of Cody Bellinger as the heir apparent to Adrian Gonzalez at 1B. He does, however, have age and college experience on his side. As such and as Badger noted, I expect him to move through the minor league system quickly if he has success at each level; and somehow I think he will.
Can’t wait to see him in the Quakes lineup this season!
BTW – That HR video is absolutely sick! That one would have gone 500 feet if it hadn’t hit the scoreboard.
Great article, Harold. Thanks!
Badger sees what no one else does, even if it’s not there.
Look at the picture again Timmons. You want to tell me he hit a ball off the hands to the top of a scoreboard? Bullsh*t.
Badger – good point on the picture but there is no caption indicating it was a home run swing. We thought it was a nice swing even though the ball isn’t squared up where Matt would have wanted it. The ball was probably a bit further in to where he prefers it but you don’t get a second chance on most swings. He’s strong enough to muscle that to the outfield for a hit.
The video shows a different picture on a home run swing.
Badger is a troll, I guess.
But he was kryptonite to you! Thats a joke Mark, just a joke!
We are not saying the picture and video are of the same swing. Matt was in rookie ball and pictures of rookie level players are not all that easy to find.
All I said was the picture shows what looks to me like a broken bat or a fly ball to short right. It was just an observation. I didn’t mean for it to disparage everything the man has ever done. He got jammed and he probably got out. Nice pic, good form, but he missed it. I’m assuming many in here actually played with a wooden bat and knows what it feels like to hit it that low on the bat. Even the great and powerful Timmons must have been jammed at least once in his long and indistinguished career. Not that he’d ever admit to it.
It’s a photograph, Badger – that’s all – a photograph. There aren’t a lot of photographs of guys in the low minors to choose from – at least until they get to Rancho where I can shoot my own photos. I selected this one because it shows the kid’s great swing and mechanics – broken bat, pop out, ground out… who cares? Sheesh.
I care. It’s a picture of a guy getting fooled into making an easy out. Excuse me for noticing. And excuse me for pointing out the picture and the video are unrelated. I’ll try not to be so obervant in the future.
Being observant is certainly never a bad thing. I expect we were just looking at things from a different perspective.
This is for you Badger: http://www.standard.net/Sports/2015/07/16/Raptors-early-start-enough-to-clip-Voyagers
Ron, I agree that the photo does show positive signs in Matt’s swing. The pitch looks like it was a slow breaking ball breaking into the batter, and Jones opened up too early. Yes his shoulder is pulled, but his head is on the ball, and he has the bat hitting the ball. I am quite certain that if you look, you might be able to find Bryce Harper also getting fooled on an inside breaking ball where he pulled off. It’s a great photo of a batter getting fooled but still disciplined enough to at least make contact. Badger is one who really rails against K’s, so I am surprised that he is making such a point about a hitter making contact where he actually could have gotten a hit on the pitch. The video is what displays his power. Not everybody can hit a ball that hard/far.
Thanks Ron. And this is for you:
http://youtu.be/dd67RAmLC1w
Is he a legit prospect? Who knows. Maybe. I never heard of him until now. I did find him listed in the Dodgers Top 100 Prospects. #94. Good luck Matt.
It would appear that I’m the only one who made a distinction between the picture and the video. Sorry about that. The video was clearly a different swing. I did not mean to piss anybody off. Everything I say pisses Mark off. I’m used to that.
It’s all cool Badger.
Badger I think every youngster entering professional baseball is a legit prospect. Rankings on prospect lists do not determine who is a legit prospect and who isn’t. Will every player make it to MLB? No, unfortunately very few do but they are all legit because they all enter the system with the same dream, give it their all against almost insurmountable odds and all contribute essential value to minor league teams (no minor league ball – no MLB}) and enjoyment to baseball fans in those smaller towns and cities.
I watch a lot of minor league ball on MiLB.TV and on radio. That is how Matt Jones and numerous other youngsters are known to me. I enjoy following the guys drafted in the middle and late rounds even more so than those drafted in the early rounds. They play most likely harder than early round guys because their hill is steeper to climb. Also that is where you find the diamonds in the rough or the gold nuggets in the stream bed.
I don’t pay a lot of attention until they do something of note in AA. There are hundreds of guys in A ball, most are going nowhere but home. Jones has a chance because he is a thumper. We all love the long ball. He does it in AA and EVERYBODY will know his name.
I watch mostly the Loons as they are only one hour removed from my Atlantic Time Zone. OKC and Tulsa not too bad with CST. Get the Raptors at times in some earlier games in MST. Dodgers in PST wipes out well more than half the season for me with 11:00 P.M. starts our time.
Badger I love them every one. LOL.
appreciate the love, means a lot to myself and the family back home #doyers
We’ll be watching your progress Matt. Best of luck to you in your career as your hard work and dedication pay off.
Thanks Matt. We really appreciate you responding to the article.
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