Connor Jones (baseball)


Connor Wesley Jones is an American professional baseball pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Career

Jones attended Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. During his high school career he went 22–3 with a 1.68 earned run average. Jones was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 21st round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft but did not sign and attended the University of Virginia to play college baseball for the Virginia Cavaliers.
Jones spent his freshman year at Virginia mostly pitching out of the bullpen. He appeared in 25 games with one start and went 4–1 with a 3.13 ERA, 40 strikeouts and one save. As a sophomore in 2015, Jones became a starter and eventually became Virginia's ace after an injury to Nathan Kirby. He started the first game of the 2015 College World Series against Vanderbilt and took the loss after giving up four runs in innings. Overall, he started 18 games, going 7–3 with a 3.19 ERA and 113 strikeouts. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team. Jones returned as Virginia's number one starter his junior year in 2016. In 15 starts, he was 11-1 with a 2.34 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
Jones was selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft in the second round by the St. Louis Cardinals. He signed for $1.1 million, was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, and was later promoted to the State College Spikes. He finished 2016 with a combined 3.68 ERA in 11 relief appearances between both teams. Jones began 2017 with the Palm Beach Cardinals, and after posting an 8-5 record and 3.97 ERA in 24 games, he was promoted to the Springfield Cardinals in September. He pitched 6.2 innings of two run ball in his only start with Springfield.
Jones began 2018 with Springfield. He was placed on the disabled list retroactive to April 16 and he was activated on May 6. He spent a majority of the year with Springfield, going 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 22 games. He also started four games for the Memphis Redbirds, compiling a 6.46 ERA. After the season, the Cardinals assigned Jones to the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.