Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sickels Says Watch Marcus Jones

John Sickels names some sleeper/breakout candidates from the NL East and mentions this guy you almost surely never heard of:
Marcus Jones, OF, Washington Nationals
Jones went to North Carolina State, but went to high school in Bethesda, Maryland, making him a local guy for the Nationals. Drafted in the 11th round last year, he is quite toolsy and did OK in college but has some issues with contact. He hit .333/.403/.433 in the New York-Penn League, but with a weakish 5/17 BB/K mark in 60 at-bats. He is well-regarded defensively and has good tools, but is still working on the consistency of his swing and his plate discipline. He is an under-the-radar guy with some upside, but also needs refinement.

2 comments:

Positively Half St. said...

Will we have to watch Vermont to watch Marcus Jones this year? If so, I hope he puts the monster in Lake Monster.

NattyDelite! said...

Steven,

I actually played with Marcus in HS. He went to Landon in Bethesda.

To clarify, he was in MS and starting at the time, while I was a defensive replacement/4th outfielder/primary scorekeeper type.

Anyways, I remember thinking then that the kid had just the most natural motions for fielding and swinging. I'm glad someone who actually studies and knows these things confirms it.

Keep up the great work!