Nolan

Jones

Jones singled in runs in the sixth and eighth. A nice day at the plate, but Jones has been one of the biggest fantasy disappointments after his breakout 2023 campaign with an OPS of .633 that is nearly 300 points behind his .931 mark of 2023. There’s reason to believe he can bounce back, but obviously there’s more risk than hoped for coming into the 2025 campaign.

After two games off, Jones was back in the lineup for the Rockies on Wednesday. With a left-handed pitcher on the mound on Thursday, Jones will sit again which is frustrating for fantasy managers. At this point in the season, given how frustrating a season it has been for Jones, there’s no reason for the Rockies to keep him out of the lineup. Hunter Goodman will start in right field and bat seventh with Jordan Beck sliding to left field.

We assume there’s something physical going on here, but the Rockies have yet to reveal anything. Jones has had a dreadful year, of course, but he’s still a key player for the team and he hasn’t been particularly bad of late; he’s hitting .276/.333/.345 over the last 15 days.

Jones put the Rockies on the board with a base hit in the second inning, bringing Brenton Doyle in to score from second. He drove in a second run with a second base hit in the sixth and scored on a throwing error. Jones would reach once again in the eight with a leadoff walk and scored a second run on a double by Ezequiel Tovar. The 26-year-old outfielder has disappointed this season, slashing .209/.311/.314 with just three homers and 20 RBI across 223 plate appearances.

Since coming off the IL, Jones is 5-for-22 with four strikeouts and one walk in six games. This was his first stolen base over that stretch as well. The Rockies do have seven home games coming up this week, so Jones can remain on rosters for now, but this is a bit of a make-or-break week for the 26-year-old.

Jones is back after missing a month with his lower back strain. The outfielder has been a disappointment after his breakout 2023 campaign, but there’s still some fantasy upside in his bat. Hunter Goodman was optioned to Triple-A to make room.

It’s interesting that the Rockies didn’t just activate Nolan Jones in Kris Bryant’s spot, but Beck is back for now. We’d like to see him in the lineup the rest of the way, but that would almost certainly mean sitting Jake Cave, something that we’re not sure Bud Black will be able to bring himself to do. The Rockies can work it out for now, but Jones, who is out of options, has to be activated soon and he’s going to need to play, too.

It’s been a lost season for Jones, who has been on the shelf since mid-July recovering from a lower back strain. The 26-year-old outfielder has been limited to just 49 games this season due to injury after last year’s 20-homer, 20-steal breakthrough campaign. He appears to be on track to return to Colorado’s lineup at some point in the coming days, but that’s no guarantee.

Well, now we know why Jones was absent from Colorado’s lineup on Friday evening. The 26-year-old missed a handful of weeks earlier this season due to a back ailment, so there’s cause for major concern here. He’s endured an injury-plagued campaign and simply hasn’t been able to get going at the dish after putting together an extremely impressive breakthrough last year in his Rockies debut. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming days.

There hasn’t been any official update from the Rockies regarding Jones’ status after he was scratched from Friday’s lineup for an unspecified reason. The 26-year-old remains out of the lineup for Saturday’s tilt as well. There should be something on his status at some point this weekend. Stay tuned.