Ryder McKinley Jones (born June 7, 1994) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Career

San Francisco Giants

Jones attended Watauga High School in

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster a ...

and was drafted by the

in the second 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 ...

. He made his professional debut with the Arizona League Giants. Jones played 2014 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and Augusta GreenJackets, 2015 with the San Jose Giants and 2016 with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. After the 2016 season, he played in the Arizona Fall League. Jones started the 2017 season with the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

. On June 24, 2017, the Giants promoted Jones to the major leagues. He made his debut later that night, starting at third base against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. On June 30, 2017, Jones recorded his first career hit against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Jones played in 53 games for the Giants in 2017 with 40 starts (27 at first base and 13 at third base). On July 21, 2019, Jones was designated for assignment. After not being claimed by another team, the Giants assigned Jones to their Double-A affiliate the Richmond Flying Squirrels. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.

Boston Red Sox

On February 4, 2020, Jones signed a minor league deal with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He did not play in a game for the organization in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of 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 ...

. Jones became a minor-league free agent on November 2.

Sugar Land Skeeters

In August 2020, Jones signed on to play for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the

Constellation Energy League The Constellation Energy League was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas during 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions limiting travel, and as a way to create opportunities for minor league players. History The league consisted of ...

(a makeshift four-team independent league created as a result of the

) for the 2020 season. He was subsequently named to the league's all-star team.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On February 6, 2021, Jones signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. In 2021, Jones appeared in 75 games split between the Rookie-Ball

Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks The Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Salt River Fields ...

, Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles, and Triple-A Reno Aces. He hit .288 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI's. Jones became a free agent following the season.

Chicago White Sox

On January 14, 2022, Jones signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. He was released on August 3, 2022.

Atlanta Braves

On January 7, 2023, Jones signed a minor league deal with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

while also announcing that he would be converting to a pitcher. He appeared in 13 games for the High–A

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team served ...

, but struggled to a 7.53 ERA with 20 strikeouts in innings pitched. On July 27, Jones was released by the Braves organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ryder 1994 births Living people Baseball players from Seattle Major League Baseball third basemen San Francisco Giants players Arizona League Giants players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Scottsdale Scorpions players Sacramento River Cats players Sugar Land Skeeters players Amarillo Sod Poodles players Reno Aces players Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks players Rome Braves players