Fenway’s Futures: Hunter Jones

The deadline for the Rule 5 draft has passed and one of the three players Theo Epstein elected to add to the 40-man roster is left-handed reliever Hunter Jones.  Jones is a 6′4″ 240lb control pitcher that has seen his career go from the operating table in college to the mound in Pawtucket in just over four years.

Hunter is a native Floridian who pitched for Florida State University for three years in college.  As a Seminole, Jones had good results when he was healthy, but unfortunately the healthy part did not happen often.  During his sophomore season he managed to pitch through most of the year with a fractured elbow which was misdiagnosed as tendinitis.  The surgery to repair his arm is not for the faint of heart, an 8-inch rod along with screws was inserted to fix the problem.

After one more disappointing season at Florida State, Hunter decided it was time to move on and go try his somewhere else.  Still trying to find his form again from such a devastating injury and going undrafted Hunter found a spot in the Cape Cod League with Orleans. There he managed to regain enough of his confidence and ability to be signed by the Boston Red Sox to a minor league deal.

With the Red Sox organization Hunter has worked his way to becoming a very good control pitcher, his strikeout numbers are on average near one per inning and the walk totals are low enough to stay comfortable with him in a relief role.

So the guy’s great for Pawtucket, but what does he mean to the Red Sox?  Hunter Jones is a mixed bag, he throws his two-seamer at 88-91, and in attempts to change his curveball to a slider he developed a very effective slider/slurve.  Although on the bad side, he is not a left handed specialist, actually he is much less effective against left-handed hitters than right-handers.  I do however feel that he is enough of a bulldog pitcher to be a capable long man in the Sox pen, and given his fine progression I wouldn’t keep it out of the realm of possibility to see him get a weekend call up in a pinch this season, or even one in September for the stretch run.

Currently he is with Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League and in 2.1 innings he has yet to allow a run, has allowed two hits and one walk while getting two strikeouts.  In the Dominican Winter League he posted a 9.00 ERA in only 4 innings with 6 walks and only 2 K’s… but that is a small sample, this season in the minors he posted a 2.45 ERA in 73.1 IP, 18 walks, and 76 K’s between Portland and Pawtucket.

He has shown the ability to be a very effective at the end of games (he ranked third in the Sox system in saves this season with 12), and throw some effective long innings.  I project him to be a solid mid relief/set up man for the Red Sox.  That is if he continues to progress as he currently is, and if he shows the drive to get better as he has in the past.  For him to come back from what he did, and to do what he is now, I don’t think anything will stop him from being a good player for Boston.