Out of order: Jones on batting first
That's not Jones' game. He is a slugger averaging 29 homers and 122 strikeouts over the past five seasons. But while the definition of a true leadoff man remains the same, more teams are putting power bats atop their orders to create disruption in a different way.
“It's crazy that I'm hitting leadoff,” Jones said. “It still boggles my mind, but it's fun. … A lot of my friends have asked me how I like hitting leadoff. It's not how I like it, it's just where I'm at. I've got my team in my mind and I think it's got our team going a little bit. We've been aggressive ever since I've been there.
“I'll probably finish with 700 at-bats,” Jones said with a smile, “but hey, wherever this team needs me, I don't care where it's at. All I want is to win and impact the game. If you want to hit me leadoff, cool.”
After the Orioles were swept in a three-game series in Houston, manager Buck Showalter called Jones into his office. At the time, Jones was batting .223/.282/.357, hitting mostly from the No. 3 spot. They discussed the possibility of Jones' hitting leadoff, in part to distribute the high-power, high-strikeout bats throughout the order.
The Orioles haven't featured a true leadoff man since Brian Roberts. Nick Markakis filled that role for a few years because of his patience at the plate more than his potential as a threat on the bases. Manny Machado has done it more recently, including six games this season, but his blossoming power had him sliding down the order. Rule 5 draft pick Joey Rickard, who hit leadoff 39 times this season, is the player whose skill set best fits the role, but it's a lot to ask from a rookie.
“The truth is it's because they're hard to find,” Showalter said. “How many guys are there? And most of them are in the National League. And what is the prototype anymore? ... One of the things is that guys are so proficient to holding runners that the stolen base is not [as evident]. … So you kind of pick your poison sometimes. But in the American League, look at the 15 clubs and tell me, ‘Yeah, there's the guy.' It's hard to find.”
Showalter said the dearth of true leadoff hitters in the majors might be a result of teams' paying more for players who drive in runs than for those who score them. Throughout the Orioles farm system, there isn't a prototypical leadoff man, Showalter noted.
“Watching some of the College World Series, they don't have one either,” he added. “It's kind of what's going on. People aren't drawn to that skill set, or that hitter description. Young guys, they want to do things and flip bats and ‘Look at me' and see how far they can hit it.”
Moving Jones to the top of the order has worked so far. Since Jones moved to the leadoff spot, his bat has heated up. In 23 games atop the Orioles batting order, Jones is hitting .281/.314/.573 with eight homers and 22 RBIs. His OPS of .887 is 248 points higher than when he was hitting in the middle of the order. In the seven games leading up to Monday night's in Texas, Jones had four homers — all against AL East competition — and boasted a .333/.375/.767 hitting line.
Since putting Jones atop the batting order, the Orioles are averaging 1.3 more runs a game — 5.7 to 4.4 — and have hit 41 homers in 23 games, a 1.78-per-game average compared to their 1.2 before Jones moved up. More importantly, heading into Monday night's game, the Orioles were 14-9 in games when Jones hit leadoff.
The Orioles aren't alone in using this unconventional method. In Toronto, the Blue Jays have experimented with batting right fielder Jose Bautista, who went on the disabled list this weekend, in the leadoff spot in an attempt to break him out of an early-season slump. Bautista is one of the top home run hitters in the game, but also led the AL in walks last year (110) and is doing the same this season (48), so his high on-base percentage fits that spot well.
“Lineups are changing,” Jones said. “I don't know if it's an evolution. I think sometimes it's to get people going. With Bautista hitting first, he leads baseball in walks, you know he's going to give you a good at-bat and he's on base a lot. It doesn't matter how you get on base, but if you get on base for [Josh] Donaldson, [Edwin] Encarnacion, the chances of you scoring increase rapidly. I think it's sometimes just to get the guys going. Part of it is that the game is changing in that regard, especially with strikeouts going up.”
The Orioles, like Toronto, have one of the deepest lineups in the game. They have five players who have at least 12 homers through 68 games: Mark Trumbo (20), Machado (17), Chris Davis (16), Jones (13) and Jonathan Schoop (12).
“With our lineup, it's different than most lineups because we don't have a true leadoff hitter,” Jones said. “I think we have a lot of guys that are two-through-six hitters. You've got a guy with Schoop's power potentially at 7-8-9, it lets you know how potent this lineup is.”
Jones insists his approach hasn't changed. He's still aggressive in looking for a fastball to hit early in the count, and he's more likely to see one hitting leadoff, but Jones acknowledges he is focusing more on lengthening his at-bats when he falls behind.
“Nick [Markakis] wasn't a leadoff hitter, but you knew Nick was going to give you a good at-bat,” Jones said. “That's all I'm trying to do. I'm still trying to be aggressive. If the first pitch is down the middle, why not swing at it? I'm not changing my approach. You're always trying not to swing at balls, but it's just trying to have a really strong at-bat and make it tough on the pitcher. He might go 0-2, but OK, he's going to have to make another good pitch to get me out because I'm slowly trying to wean myself from chasing those two-strike sliders and make the pitcher throw it over the plate.”
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