Gregory Jones Jr. (born March 7, 1998) 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

in the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

organization.

Early life

Jones was born in

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest muni ...

. He is the son of Tammy and Greg Jones. Jones attended

Cary High School Cary High School is one of six public high schools in Cary, North Carolina and is part of the Wake County Public School System. In 1907, Cary High School became the first state-funded public high school in North Carolina.Byrd, Thomas M. and Costo ...

Career

Amateur career

As a senior at Cary High School, he batted .429 with 18 stolen bases. He was ranked sixth in North Carolina and 133rd nationally by ''Perfect Game''. He was selected by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the 17th round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

, but did not sign. He instead chose to attend the

University of North Carolina Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

where he played

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 ...

. In 2018, as a freshman at UNC Wilmington, Jones played and started sixty games, batting .278 with four home runs 21 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. He played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

after the season, hitting .242 in 132

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. In 2019, his sophomore year, he hit .341 with five home runs, 36 RBIs, and 42 stolen bases in 63 games, and was named the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

Player of the Year.

Professional career

Jones was selected by the

in the first round with the 22nd overall selection of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. He signed with the Rays for $3 million. Jones made his professional debut with the

Hudson Valley Renegades Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. Over 48 games, he slashed .335/.413/.461 with one home run, 24 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. Jones did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He began the 2021 season with the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

and was promoted to the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

of the

Double-A South AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * ''Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Doub ...

in August. He missed time during the season due to a quadriceps injury. Over 72 games between the two clubs, he slashed .270/.366/.482 with 14 home runs, forty RBIs, and 34 stolen bases. He opened the 2022 season back with Montgomery.

Honors and awards

* 2018 All-Rookie Team,

* 2018 All-Tournament, Colonial Athletic Association * 2019 First-team All-State * 2019 Bryan Britt Award,

* 2019 All-Tournament, Colonial Athletic Association * 2019 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Colonial Athletic Association * 2019 All-America (Third team),

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nati ...

* 2019 All-America (Third team),

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coac ...

* 2019 Player of the Year, Colonial Athletic Association * 2019 First-team All-Colonial Athletic Association * 2019 First-Team All-East, American Baseball Coaches Association

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Greg 1998 births Living people People from Cary, North Carolina Baseball players from North Carolina Baseball shortstops UNC Wilmington Seahawks baseball players Chatham Anglers players Hudson Valley Renegades players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Montgomery Biscuits players