Nolan Allen Jones (born May 7, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the Guardians.

Amateur career

Jones attended Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Cornwells Heights, Bensalem,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He played

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

in high school. Jones hit a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

in his final high school at-bat. He committed to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

Jones was considered a top prospect for the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball 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 were distributed for players who ...

. The

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

selected Jones in the second round of the draft. On July 1, Jones signed with the Indians for a $2.25 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Jones struck out swinging on his first career at-bat for the

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is ...

. He finished his first professional season with a .257 batting average over 109 at bats. Jones spent 2017 with the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

where he batted .317 with four home runs, 33 RBIs, and 18 doubles over 62 games. He began the 2018 season with the

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...

before being promoted to the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinn ...

, slashing a combined .283/.405/.466 with 19 home runs and 66 RBIs over 120 games between both teams. Jones returned to Lynchburg to begin 2019 and was promoted to the

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park (Akron, Ohio) ...

during the season. He was named to the 2019

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. Over 126 games between both teams, he slashed .272/.409/.442 with 15 home runs and 63 RBIs. He led the minor leagues in walks with 96. He was also selected to play in the

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

for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was establi ...

following the season. However, he left the league early after aggravating a previous hand injury. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season. Cleveland selected Jones' contract on November 20, 2020. Jones spent the 2021 season with the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

with whom he slashed .238/.356/.431 with 13 home runs, 48 RBIs, and 25 doubles over 99 games. The Guardians recalled Jones from the minor leagues on July 8, 2022. He made his major league debut that same day against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

. In the game, Jones collected his first career hit, an RBI double off of Royals starter

Brady Singer Brady Alan Singer (born August 4, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals. Singer played college baseball for the Flor ...

. The next day, Jones hit his first career home run, a 450 foot shot off of

Jackson Kowar Jackson Alexander Kowar (born October 4, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals. Amateur career Kowar was born and r ...

Colorado Rockies

On November 15, 2022, Jones was traded to the

in exchange for Juan Brito. Jones was optioned to the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

to begin the 2023 season. In 106 games for Colorado, he batted .297/.389/.542 with new career–highs in home runs (20), RBI (62), and stolen bases (20). He placed fourth in the 2023

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

balloting. Jones made 79 appearances for the Rockies during the 2024 campaign, batting .227/.321/.320 with three home runs, 28 RBI, and five stolen bases.

Cleveland Guardians (second stint)

On March 22, 2025, Jones was traded back to the

in exchange for

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

Tyler Freeman.

Personal life

His brother, Peyton Jones, played Division I ice hockey for four years at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

and was signed by the

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hockey League and ...

of the AHL. He is currently a goaltender for a German club of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. In August 2024, Jones' fiancée, Morgan Gouger, gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Kamryn May Jones.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Nolan 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Langhorne, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Major League Baseball outfielders Cleveland Guardians players Colorado Rockies players Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Lynchburg Hillcats players Akron RubberDucks players Mesa Solar Sox players Columbus Clippers players Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen