The rare West Virginia Power highlights continue for at least one more day. Today’s best is JaCoby Jones with a first inning solo homer. He drove in two runs in the game and finished with three hits, missing the cycle by a triple. Jones has six homers this year, 12 stolen bases and a .776 OPS. In April he hit for a higher average, batting over .300, while the average has dipped to .240 in May, but the OPS in nearly identical thanks to five homers this month. He’s showing signs on being the breakout player they hoped, though there are still some flaws, specifically defense and strikeouts. Jones leads the Power with 13 errors and 53 strikeouts. Some of the defensive issues are due to playing shortstop everyday, when some believed he would be a second baseman or outfielder. The strikeouts are still high though, especially considering that Jones is a 22-year-old from a major college program that is playing in low-A ball. The hope is that the positives outweigh the negatives and because he is a toolsy, gifted athlete, that is definitely a possibility down the line.
The second highlight from today is the final strikeout by Vance Worley in his 10 strikeouts performance. You get to see the entire at-bat, which also includes a very nice catch from the bullpen catcher in the middle of warm-ups. Worley went eight innings in the 5-2 win over Buffalo. He has pitched a total of 33 innings in five starts, going at least six frames in each game. While he isn’t really a prospect, you could say that there is the prospect of him helping the Pittsburgh Pirates at some point this season.
