Jared Jones

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #205 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: LSU Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 22.0
  
  Jones has been on the national scouting radar for years, dating back to his prep days when he stood out for his massive physicality and raw power. He made it to campus at LSU where he moved from catcher to first base and homered 28 times as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2024. Jones went undrafted and returned to LSU for his 2025 junior season. He hit .323/.414/.613 with 22 home runs and 15 doubles but struck out at a 26.1% clip and walked at a career-worst 11.7% rate, down 9% from 2025. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound first baseman has a straightforward offensive profile built around double-plus raw power. He produced a gaudy 94.1 mph average exit velocity in 2025, which ranked fourth nationally among Division I hitters with at least 150 batted ball events. Jones also managed a 30.6% barrel rate. While his contact is frequently scorching, there are very significant swing-and-miss concerns with Jones, who chased at 29% clip and managed a lowly 70.4% overall contact rate. Jones is a below-average athlete and runner who carries little defensive value and might only play first base. Right-right first base profiles are challenging and very bat-dependent, but his power and performance could make him a fit in the first 10 rounds after he helped guide LSU to a national championship as the team’s top hitter.
• Ranked #260 prospect in 2024 draft
  School: LSU Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21
  Jones stood out for his size, raw power and arm strength as a high school player when he was already listed at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. A few years later at LSU and Jones is even more physical—now listed at 6-foot-4, 253 pounds—and had an impressive 2023 freshman season with the Tigers where he homered 14 times and hit .302. Jones has moved from catcher to first base where there will be more pressure on his bat to perform. He has no shortage of power for the position but will need to cut down his strikeouts. He has shown an ability to walk at a high clip which should pair nicely with his big righthanded power.
• Ranked #215 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Walton HS, Marietta, Ga. Committed/Drafted: Louisiana State
  Age At Draft: 19
  Jones is an extra-large catcher with a massive, 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame and the raw power and arm strength that matches that physicality. He has plus raw power and can leave the park from gap to gap, and some scouts have said his arm strength is among the best in the 2022 prep class. While he does have impressive power that could become plus-plus in the future, that juice has also come with swing-and-miss issues that leave scouts wondering how much of his power he’ll get to in-game against better pitching. Additionally, it’s hard to find big league catchers with his current physicality and many scouts think he would be better in a robo-ump environment where arm strength is more prioritized than framing. There’s a chance he moves to first base at the next level if he can’t stick behind the dish. Jones is committed to Louisiana State and could be a difficult sign, but has exciting upside given his prodigious raw power. Jones will just barely be a draft-eligible sophomore in the 2024 class if he does make it to campus.