More bad luck comes to the franchise as the team’s first round pick in last week’s draft suffered a severe shoulder injury taking batting practice with the big league club.
The Diamondbacks received bad news today with Druw Jones, their top pick from the 2022 Draft, has suffered a potential season-ending injury according to The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan.
Jones was considered the consensus top prospect in last week’s draft and was selected by the D-backs with the second overall pick. Last weekend he signed for the full slot value of $8.189MM before shagging fly balls and taking batting practice with the outfielders. Jones reportedly suffered that shoulder injury during BP.
According to Buchanan, the team has done medical imaging of the shoulder and are consulting orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gary Waslewski on if surgery will be needed to fix the damage. Whether or not Jones elects to have surgery or not, the chance he’s able to play in the Complex League is slim to none. I don’t think 100 at-bats at the Complex level will drastically alter his timeline to the majors, but it certainly sucks for him after working so hard to be one of the top players in the draft and getting rewarded for those efforts.
The injury is a bizarre trend, as the last three position players the D-backs selected in the first round have each suffered major shoulder injuries in the past 14 months. The good news for Jones is both Corbin Carroll and Jordan Lawlar were able to make successful recoveries from their injuries. I think the key will be getting him healthy for Spring Training next season and have him start 2023 with the team’s Low A affiliate in Visalia.