Perhaps the Diamondbacks are snake-bitten.
Already in the basement of the National League West, Arizona suffered another painful loss on Monday when Druw Jones, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft earlier this month, injured his shoulder. Jones was taking batting practice at the organization's Salt River Fields facility when he got hurt, per MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
An MRI revealed the injury. Jones will meet with the team's physician on Wednesday to figure out how serious the issue is. Next steps will be determined then, but surgery is a possibility, and Jones may not play again this season.
Jones suffered his injury during his first workout at the Diamondbacks' spring training complex. Prior to getting hurt, he was expected to start playing in Arizona Complex League games this week.
Jones is the son of former All-Star center fielder Andruw Jones, who played 17 MLB seasons with the Braves, Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees from 1996-2012. The younger Jones, 18, just inked his first professional contract on Saturday, signing for a slot-value bonus of $8.19 million. The Wesleyan School (Peachtree Corners, GA) product's contract briefly set the record for a high school player, but No. 1 pick Jackson Holliday, taken by the Orioles, quickly surpassed that.
Should Jones miss the rest of the season, the Diamondbacks will actually find themselves in familiar territory. Believe it or not, this is the third time one of Arizona's first-round picks have suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the past year and a half. Outfielder Corbin Carroll, the team's 2019 first-rounder and top prospect, hurt his shoulder during the first week of the 2021 MiLB season and required surgery. That August, shortstop Jordan Lawlar, Arizona's top pick in 2021 and No. 2 prospect, injured his labrum. He also underwent surgery.
While Jones would surely like to avoid surgery and the same season-ending fate, Carroll and Lawlar were healthy by the time the 2022 season started.
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