Connor Wesley Jones (born October 10, 1994) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is a free agent.

Amateur career

Jones attended

Great Bridge High School Great Bridge High School is a public secondary school in Chesapeake, Virginia, United States. It is part of Chesapeake City Public Schools. History Great Bridge opened in 1907, holding students from 1st through 12th grade. Another larger build ...

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

. During his high school career he went 22–3 with a 1.68

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). Jones was drafted by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

in the 21st round of the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

but did not sign and attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

. Jones spent his freshman year at Virginia mostly pitching out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. He appeared in 25 games with one start and went 4–1 with a 3.13 ERA, 40

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and one save. As a sophomore in 2015, Jones became a starter and eventually became Virginia's

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

after an injury to

Nathan Kirby Nathan Winston Kirby (born November 23, 1993) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted 40th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2015 MLB draft, but would never play in Major League Baseball (MLB). Amateur career Ki ...

. He started the first game of the 2015 College World Series against Vanderbilt and took the loss after giving up four runs in innings. Overall, he started 18 games, going 7–3 with a 3.19 ERA and 113 strikeouts. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team. Jones returned as Virginia's number one starter his junior year in 2016. In 15 starts, he was 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Jones was selected in the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

in the second round by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

. He signed for $1.1 million, was assigned to the

Gulf Coast League Cardinals The Florida Complex League Cardinals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. The team plays ...

, and was later promoted to the

State College Spikes The State College Spikes are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in State College, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the campus of Pennsylvania State University. The ...

. He finished 2016 with a combined 3.68 ERA over innings pitched with both teams. Jones spent a majority of the 2017 season with the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Roge ...

, starting 21 games and going 8-5 with a 3.97 ERA and 76 strikeouts over innings. He pitched it one game for the

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ...

at the end of the season. Jones began 2018 with Springfield. He was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

retroactive to April 16 and he was activated on May 6. He spent a majority of the year with Springfield, going 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA over 22 games (17 starts). He also started four games for the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

, compiling a 6.46 ERA over innings. After the season, the Cardinals assigned Jones to the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Royal ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

(AFL). In 2019, he spent a majority of the year back with Springfield, going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA and 49 strikeouts over innings pitched in relief. he returned to Memphis for a brief point at the season's end. He did not play a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season. Jones spent the 2021 season with Memphis with whom he went 5-6 with a 5.91 ERA and fifty strikeouts over innings. Jones was released by the Cardinals on March 28, 2022.

Seattle Mariners

On March 31, 2022, Jones signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

organization. Jones spent the year with the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeeded ...

, starting 17 games but struggling to a 4-8 record and 7.02 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched. On August 4, 2022, Jones underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

and missed the remainder of the season.https://twitter.com/connorjones33/status/1555236184976244747?s=46&t=UN5XGiNzRq3-vt33N7zCTw He became a free agent following the 2022 season.

References

External links

Virginia Cavaliers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Connor 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Chesapeake, Virginia Baseball players from Virginia Baseball pitchers Virginia Cavaliers baseball players Gulf Coast Cardinals players State College Spikes players Palm Beach Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Surprise Saguaros players Minor league baseball players Arkansas Travelers players