Damont no ace cap 21 segunda temporada

This was not the April that Damon Jones had envisioned following his breakout minor-league season in 2019. In all likelihood, the hard-throwing left-hander would have been getting ready to finish the first month of the Triple-A season if the outbreak of COVID-19 hadn’t put baseball — and much of the world — on hold.

“I think Idaho is one of the better states to be in, just because it’s not as populated,” Jones told

Last season was Jones’ best since being drafted by the Phillies in the 18th-round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Early in the season, he added a slider to his repertoire that he learned from watching a video of current Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer grip his pitches during the 2018 All-Star Break. The slider gave Jones another pitch that could miss bats, particularly those of left-handed hitters. He also started pitching exclusively from the stretch after a handful of starts, which Jones said helped prevent him from walking as many batters.

He did struggle a bit once he got to Lehigh Valley after dominating in Single-A and Double-A. Jones’ ERA in Triple-A was 6.62 in eight starts. Part of those struggles could be attributed to adjusting to a new baseball used at that level, as well as facing better, more experienced competition. Jones also mentioned that getting tired at the end of the season could have played a role. Nonetheless, last season was a huge stride in the pitcher’s development as a prospect.

From there Jones made his way to Idaho, where he now throws in his parents’ backyard. He was not going to make the Phillies roster out of spring training, but there was a good chance he could have been up in the major leagues at some point this summer as a starter or reliever — Jones said he can see himself pitching in either role.

“I know that they need guys to be ready, because you never really know how many guys are going to get hurt if they try to rush everyone back,” Jones said.

Last summer Arnette learned he would become a father. His son, Tyson, was born about a month before the NFL Scouting Combine. Arnette calls him “Ace,” in honor of being his firstborn.

Some predraft scuttlebutt labeled Arnette a “character concern.” Perhaps that traced back to Arnette’s own admissions — in articles written before last season — that he did not always get along with the previous Ohio State defensive coaches. Arnette also conceded a poor attitude through his junior season — something he recognized and worked to correct.

I don’t know what it’s like for the players, but the six-game series are starting to drag on me. It’s fun when the affiliate is crushing their opposition, of course, but it can make a bad stretch worse for a player (or entire team!) struggling against a particular organization. I spoke to a high-minors player I’m friendly with and he said about the same, that while the regularity of the off-day is cherished (especially for players looking to schedule visits and buy plane tickets for family and friends), it does get a little boring seeing the same faces six games in a row. Perhaps familiarity breeding contempt is a good way to position what happened in the A-AA affiliates this week:

It was a fight for first place, with the Nuts taking on the Giants’ prospect-packed lineup, and sadly, Modesto just wasn’t up to the task this time around, dropping the series four games to just two. It was a real bummer for the team that’s been the most consistent winner in Seattle’s system, marred by some sloppy defense and poor outings from Modesto’s normally lockdown pitching staff, as well as a surprising offensive power outage. Meanwhile, the Fresno Grizzlies—Modesto’s next opponents—took advantage of the two former first-place teams beating each other up to sneak into first place.