Nolan Jones

Nolan Jones

26-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Colorado Rockies
2024 Fantasy Outlook
It was another miserable year for the Rockies in 2023 with an NL-worst 59 wins, but Jones excelled after being acquired from the Guardians during the offseason. He missed Colorado's Opening Day roster but was called up for his season debut in late May, and he hit the ground running with a .942 OPS in his first 28 games. Jones put up similar numbers the rest of the way and finished his rookie campaign with a .297/.389/.542 slash line, 20 homers, 20 steals, 62 RBI and 60 runs in 106 contests. Encouragingly, the Coors Field effect didn't appear to have much of an impact on him, as he posted a .928 OPS at home compared to a .935 OPS on the road. However, his .404 BABIP isn't sustainable, which combined with a 29.7 percent strikeout rate is a strong indication of overperformance (that is also backed up by an xBA of .247 and xSLG of .492. Even taking that into account, it was an excellent season for Jones, who will open 2024 as an everyday starter in the Rockies outfield and should provide strong fantasy production even if he's unable to fully replicate last season's numbers. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#246
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $745,000 contract with the Rockies in March of 2024.
Idle Tuesday
OFColorado Rockies
September 24, 2024
Jones is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game versus the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
Jones is slashing just .179/.283/.179 in September, although he did produce a pair of RBI singles over the Rockies' two weekend games. With the left fielder taking a seat Tuesday, Sam Hilliard has the start and is batting seventh.
Read More News
Batting Stats
Loading Batting Stats...
2024
2023
2022
2024 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2023 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2022 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Batting Game Log...
Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
4
2
11
11
14
9
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
3
4
6
5
4
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+11%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+25%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .738 227 22 8 23 12 .262 .330 .408
Since 2022vs Right .820 588 76 17 80 13 .266 .365 .455
2024vs Left .548 92 5 1 4 2 .205 .283 .265
2024vs Right .685 205 23 2 24 3 .237 .338 .347
2023vs Left .902 130 17 7 19 10 .314 .377 .525
2023vs Right .945 294 43 13 43 10 .289 .395 .550
2022vs Left .000 5 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2022vs Right .721 89 10 2 13 0 .259 .326 .395
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+2%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+23%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+1%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+132%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .787 414 54 11 53 15 .270 .370 .417
Since 2022Away .805 401 44 14 50 10 .260 .339 .466
2024Home .700 165 16 1 15 3 .255 .372 .328
2024Away .569 132 12 2 13 2 .193 .258 .311
2023Home .928 211 35 10 33 12 .306 .398 .530
2023Away .935 213 25 10 29 8 .288 .380 .554
2022Home .382 38 3 0 5 0 .143 .211 .171
2022Away .885 56 7 2 8 0 .314 .375 .510
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Nolan Jones compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.40
 
BB Rate
12.1%
 
K Rate
30.6%
 
BABIP
.333
 
ISO
.094
 
AVG
.227
 
OBP
.321
 
SLG
.320
 
OPS
.641
 
wOBA
.289
 
Exit Velocity
88.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
36.1%
 
Barrels/PA
3.4%
 
Expected BA
.211
 
Expected SLG
.322
 
Sprint Speed
25.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
52.4%
 
Line Drive %
20.2%
 
Fly Ball %
27.4%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
Loading Advanced Batting Stats...
Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
Loading Games Played by Position...
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Batted Ball Stats
Loading Batted Ball Stats...
Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Nolan Jones See More
All-Bust Fantasy Team: Position Players
30 days ago
Bo Bichette finished outside the top 50 at the shortstop position in 2024, missing half the year due to injury and falling well short of his usual standards when available.
Super Early 2025 Top 300 Rankings
49 days ago
James Anderson ranks the top 300 players for 2025 fantasy baseball leagues, in which Brewers' phenom Jackson Chourio is pushing towards the first round!
Collette Calls: Bold Hitter Predictions Accountability
57 days ago
Jason Collette reviews the hits and misses from his hitting half of his preseason bold predictions, including big hits on Brenton Doyle and Mark Vientos.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
The Guardians sent Jones to the Rockies this offseason for 21-year-old second base prospect Juan Brito. Considering Brito is already on the 40-man roster and has not played above Single-A, this was a very light return, but Cleveland didn't have room for Jones at the big-league level and Brito's hit-over-power, up-the-middle skill set fits the organization's priorities. Obviously playing in Colorado is preferable to playing in Cleveland, so from a fantasy standpoint, this was an upgrade. Jones didn't play poorly for a 24-year-old returning to Triple-A (122 wRC+) and getting his first taste of the majors (93 wRC+), but he is a corner outfielder who has not shown an ability to hit for the necessary game power to pull off that profile. The 12.5 BB% and 25.8 K% he showed at Triple-A would be excellent marks if it came with 25-plus homer power, but Jones managed 11 home runs in 83 games last season. His 14.5 Barrel% and 49.1 Hard% in the majors suggest he could still get to enough power to occupy the strong side of a platoon. The Rockies will probably give significant playing time to Kris Bryant, Randal Grichuk and Charlie Blackmon to start the season, and when injuries or poor performance strike, Jones could be the next man up.
The most noteworthy thing that happened to Jones in 2020 was getting added to the 40-man roster as Rule 5 draft protection. The 22-year-old third baseman spent the summer at the alternate training site and also played in the fall instructional league. He has long excelled at working the count and using the whole field on offense while doing just enough to get by on defense. His patience at the plate leads to plenty of strikeouts as well, and he is unequivocally more valuable in OBP and points leagues than in roto leagues that use AVG. He has plus power to all fields, so he should eventually settle into a spot in the middle third of Cleveland's lineup. Jones has recently gotten work at first base and in the outfield so that he can bring some defensive versatility to the table. He should open the year at Triple-A and could debut this summer if he keeps his strikeout rate in check.
Jones has been at least 47% better than the average hitter in every full-season league he has played in while being young for each level. His 14.7 BB% was the fourth-best mark in the Eastern League, but it was the worst rate of Jones' career. Just based on where he hits the ball (evenly distributed to all fields) and how he hits it (a lot of linedrives and flyballs), his hit tool would rate as one of the best in the minors. However, strikeouts linger as the lone blemish. He has a career 26.7 K% and had a 29.9 K% at Double-A. Jones struggled to make contact in 15 games in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .200 with four HR and a 31:8 K:BB. Thumb surgery cut his AFL run short, but he is expected to be ready for spring training. Jones should become Cleveland's everyday third baseman in 2021, and will be either a big four-cat or big three-cat contributor, depending on whether it's an OBP or AVG league.
While no longer underrated in OBP dynasty leagues (walk rates between 16.2% and 20% at every pro stop), Jones is still under-appreciated among many who play in standard formats. He boasts an exquisite all-fields approach -- the last time more than 39% of his hits went to one third of the field was in rookie ball -- and still shows off his plus power in games. His 147 wRC+ ranked third among Midwest League hitters (min. 300 PA) and his 162 wRC+ ranked second among Carolina League hitters (min. 100 PA). At 6-foot-4 and roughly 195 pounds, he is a below-average runner, but has worked diligently on his defense at third base and should be able to stick at the position. Plenty of strikeouts (25.2 K%) come with all his walks and power production, but he doesn't swing and miss at an unmanageable clip. The Indians may send him to Double-A ahead of his 21st birthday in May, setting up a likely 2020 MLB debut.
The second youngest hitter in the New York-Penn League last year, Jones led the league in wRC+ (171) while ranking second in walk rate (16.2 percent) and sixth in BB/K (0.72). He has pedigree ($2.25 million bonus in 2016), great size (6-4, 185 pounds) and is a good athlete, although he is not much of a runner. He could handle right field or first base if he needs to move off third base down the road, but he is improving with the glove and won’t be moved anytime soon. Jones can work the count and hit to all fields -- an area he has really improved since entering pro ball. In 2016, 45.9 percent of his hits went to the pull side, but last year he cut that mark to 37.7 percent. He shows excellent plate coverage, and is more than willing to take what pitchers give him. With such an impressive foundation, it’s only a matter of time before his plus raw power starts regularly showing up in games.
Jones was expected to come off the board in the first round, but he fell to the Indians at No. 55. However, his $2.25 million bonus ranked 25th in the 2016 class, so he still got paid like a first rounder. At 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, he is still filling out, but should physically resemble a typical middle-of-the-order third baseman in time. A prep product from the Northeast (Pennsylvania) who won't turn 19 until May, it is not surprising that Jones struggled somewhat to adjust to pro pitching, but he still demonstrated a keen eye (17.2 percent walk rate) in the Arizona League. His initial lack of power production does not reflect his long-term projection, as many evaluators think his swing and physique will lead to plus power with an average or better hit tool at maturity. If his contact skills improve and he retains his awareness of the strike zone, all the traits are there for Jones to develop into a special hitter in four or five years.
More Fantasy News
Knocks in two
OFColorado Rockies
September 23, 2024
Jones went 1-for-4 with two RBI on Sunday against the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Out of Colorado lineup
OFColorado Rockies
September 18, 2024
Jones is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Diamondbacks.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Struggles continuing
OFColorado Rockies
September 18, 2024
Jones went 0-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Taking seat Saturday
OFColorado Rockies
September 14, 2024
Jones isn't in the Rockies' lineup for Saturday's game against the Cubs.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Sitting against left-hander
OFColorado Rockies
September 12, 2024
Jones is not in the lineup for Thursday's game in Detroit.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Spot in majors secure?
OFColorado Rockies
June 1, 2023
Jones could have a more secure spot on Colorado's big-league roster after Kris Bryant was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a bruised heel.
ANALYSIS
Jones started in right field Thursday against Arizona and has started all but one game since being promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque last week. C.J. Cron's back injury prompted Jones' call-up, and Bryant's injury should provide another layer of protection to the youngster's place with the big club. Jones had a .681 OPS in his first taste of the majors last year, but he's gone 5-for-18 with two doubles, a homer and three RBI during his first week with Colorado this season.
See All MLB Rumors