Druw Jones ties for Minors OF assist lead with INCREDIBLE throw from center

Druw Jones has spent the past four Minor League seasons establishing himself as one of the game’s premier defensive players. There’s a lot of hardware on his mantle, most recently having been named the 2025 MiLB Defender of the Year. And yet, baserunners are still tempted to try and score on the D-backs’ No. 23 prospect.

Or, as Double-A Amarillo broadcaster Zach Goodman put it as he watched Ryan Jackson (Padres) streak down the third-base line in the top of the second during the club’s 17-1 win over San Antonio at HODGETOWN on Friday night:

“They’re gonna test it -- bad idea! Throw on the money, Druw got another. When will they learn?!”

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The assist marked Jones’ 13th this season, tied for the most among all outfielders in the Minors. The Dodgers’ Andy Pages leads the big leagues with 13 outfield assists in his own right.

Jones’ seed of a throw provided backing to right-hander David Hagaman, the D-backs’ No. 4 prospect, who collected three strikeouts across five scoreless frames. It’s been a breakout first full season in Arizona’s system for the 23-year-old, who was acquired at last year’s Trade Deadline as part of the return from Texas in the Merrill Kelly deal. Hagaman has posted a 2.55 ERA in seven Double-A starts and run an exemplary 46/12 K/BB ratio in 35 1/3 innings in that span.

Jones has been making an impact with the glove from the moment he stepped onto a Minor League Baseball field. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis said shortly after the son of Hall of Famer Andruw Jones was drafted that he was nearly big league-ready as a defender coming out of Georgia prep ranks. The years since have done nothing but back that up. He's one of just eight ranked prospects in all of baseball to earn a 70-grade fielding tool (on the 20-80 scale).

But it’s been the offensive production that has held the No. 2 pick from the 2022 Draft back somewhat. Things clicked during the second half of the 2025 campaign with High-A Hillsboro and there have been flashes of impact this year with Amarillo, including hitting for the first cycle in franchise history and hitting some gargantuan home runs.

Things have really clicked in September for Jones, who added three more hits Friday. The 22-year-old is slashing .351/.400/.541 in nine contests this month, reminiscent of June when he hit .368 with a .989 OPS. His strikeout rate (28.9 percent) remains high and he’s still pounding the ball into the ground (54.1 percent GB rate entering Friday) far too often, but he’s able to offset some of those issues with power that he's finding ways to tap into and a 70-grade run tool -- tied for tops among all ranked D-backs prospects -- that's led to 37 stolen bases this season.

Jones might never challenge for a batting title in the big leagues but he’s shown in his first taste of the upper Minors this season that he has other ways of making an enormous impact on the game on a nightly basis.