Baltimore Orioles: 5 Best Players Half-Way Through The Season

2. Adam Jones, CF

Jun 21, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones (10) hits a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the first inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Adam Jones has been the Orioles best player ever since coming over here from Seattle in 2008. He is the closest thing that the Orioles have to a five-tool player. Hes has a lot of power, always hits for a high average, has great speed for a power-hitter, and has one of the best gloves in the league. He has made the all-star game three years, has won three gold gloves, and has been named the most valuable Oriole three times.

He has always been the leader and anchor of the team, hitting in the middle of the lineup every year, but last year was the best year of his career so far. He hit a career-high 33 home runs and 108 RBI’s with a .285 batting average. His career average is .281.

However, the one problem that has loomed over Jones for his entire career has been his tendency to swing at pitches that shouldn’t be swung at. He has struck out over 110 times in each of the last four years and has walked over 30 times just twice in his career.

This year he is on pace to have just as good of a season as last year. He has hit 14 home runs and 48 RBI’s while batting .301. However his OBP is at a very low .324 which is just 23 points higher than his average; not good. This is due to the fact that although he has 101 hits, he also has just nine base on balls. If Jones would ever improve on his discipline; there is a good chance that he would be one of the four or five best players in baseball. However, that is a big “if,” and I’m not sure that Jones will ever fix the bad habit that he has of swinging at balls out of the strike zone.