"I'm trying to really stay off the down-and-away pitch," Jones said. "If I could find a way to lay off that pitch more, I'd find myself on first base a lot more often and score more runs. Trying to lay off it, but if I can't, shoot it in that hole (on the right side). Second baseman will probably be playing me up the middle more. I'm just trying to make contact."
Per FanGraphs.com, Jones is swinging at 39.6 percent of pitches outside of the strike zone, which is just above his career mark (39.5 percent) and below his rate the last two seasons (40.4 percent), so the numbers don't back up his claim just yet. But Jones insists he's making an effort to become a better hitter.
"I'm just trying to get on base anyway I can," Jones said. "Take the hits over there if they want to pitch me away. You see what Miguel Cabrera does. He takes what they give him and I'm learning that. Obviously I'm not on the same caliber as he is but my growth can be. I'm still growing as a player."
Adam Jones homers vs. Twins
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (5/12/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones hit his fifth home run of the season Sunday afternoon against the Twins.
Jones' solo homer came off starter Scott Diamond in the third, and he finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI in the 6-0 victory.
Jones is hitting .304 (14 for 46) with a home run, five RBI and four stolen bases in his first 11 games in May. He is hitting .321 with five homers and 25 RBI in 159 at-bats.
Another multi-hit game for Adam Jones
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (5/11/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones' RBI single capped a three-run 10th inning for the Orioles Friday against the Twins.
Jones finished 3 for 6 with an RBI in a 9-6 victory. It was his third multi-hit performance in his last nine games.
He's hitting .327 with four home runs and 24 RBI in 150 at-bats.
X-rays come back negative for Adam Jones
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (5/10/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, who fouled a ball off his his foot, underwent X-rays, which came back negative, according to MLB.com.
Jones, who is in the starting lineup for Friday's series opener at Minnesota, is hitting .290 (9 for 31) with three RBI since the start of May.
Adam Jones hitting well in May
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (5/4/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones hit safely for his fourth consecutive contest to begin May on Saturday against the Angels. He went 2 for 4 with a walk and a pair of stolen bases in a 5-4 win.
The 27-year-old singled in the third inning before leading off the 10th with another base hit.
Jones has gone 6 for 16 (.375) so far this month with one RBI and one run scored.
Adam Jones trying to 'clean' up defense
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (5/2/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones misplayed a deep fly ball hit by Mariners catcher Jesus Montero in the second inning Wednesday. Jones chased down the fly ball, but he let is drop off his glove and crashed into the wall, which allowed Montero to scoot to third base.
"I missed the ball," Jones said, per MLB.com. "Doesn't really matter if you misjudge it, you missed it. So, you make an excuse no one wants to listen to it. I missed it and cost my team. That inning turned out to be a pretty big inning."
The Gold Glove outfielder's defense has come under fire recently, despite having committed just one error in 63 chances.
"There's some things that I'm not doing well in the field and it's frustrating," he said. "But you think it's going to stop me from playing hard and stop the way I'm playing, it's not. Just got to pretty much clean it up."
Mariners sink Adam Jones' streak
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/30/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones went 0 for 4 to halt his hitting streak at nine games during Baltimore's 6-2 loss at Seattle Monday night. The 27-year-old failed to record a hit for the first time since April 20 as his batting average slipped to .339 on the season.
Jones' stretch of safely reaching base also ended at 15 games as his walk rate continues to sputter. With his strikeout to end the game, he has now whiffed 24 times against just two walks in 26 games.
Adam Jones extends streak with homer
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/27/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones extended his hitting streak to eight games Saturday against the A's. He went 1 for 4 with a home run in the 7-3 win.
The 27-year-old hit a solo shot off starter A.J. Griffin in the fourth inning for his fourth homer of the season. Jones is batting .333 (11 for 33) during his streak with two homers and five RBI.
Adam Jones has three-hit night against A's
by Jack Moore | CBSSports.com (4/26/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones went 3 for 5 with two runs and an RBI in Thursday's victory over Oakland.
Jones doubled and singled twice. He has a six-game hitting streak and is hitting .359/.379/.554.
Adam Jones 'bored' as designated hitter
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/21/2013) The Orioles gave Adam Jones a start Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers as the designated hitter. It was only the second time in his career he's started as the DH in a game.
The Gold Glove center fielder went 1 for 4 in the game with an RBI double that just missed going out for a home run, but said afterwards he was bored on the bench between at-bats, MASNSports.com reports Sunday.
"I'm bored. I don't know what to do," Jones said. "I understand it is to get my legs a little rest but I'm bothering him (Buck Showalter) and all the coaches. But hey, we have players and depth on this team to where myself, CD (Chris Davis),(Matt) Wieters, anyone can have a day off because we have the depth."
Jones has dropped his average to .352 as he's gone 3 for 16 over his last four games with a homer, double, three RBI and seven strikeouts. He appears to be swinging a little more liberally than he was earlier in the year when he started out on fire.
The All-Star entered Sunday in the top 10 in the American League in average, RBI (14) and runs scored (15) for the Orioles and was back in center field in the finale versus L.A.
Adam Jones keeps on hitting
by Ed Gauna | CBSSports.com (4/21/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones went hitless for just the second time in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Dodgers but got back into the hit column in the nightcap. He went 1 for 4 with an RBI in the 6-1 win.
The 27-year-old doubled home Manny Machado in the fifth inning.
Jones is batting .352 (25 for 71) with two homers and 14 RBI.
Adam Jones has good, bad performance
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/17/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones had an up-and-down performance on Wednesday night in a loss to the Rays. He was solid offensively, but not as much on defense.
Jones gave the Orioles their only runs of the game when he homered off starter Matt Moore in the third inning, snapping Moore's scoreless streak to begin the year. Jones hit a two-run shot that was changed from a double after the umpires reviewed the play. The ball bounced off the back railing behind the center field wall and the correct call was made.
Unfortunately for Jones, he attempted to catch a James Loney hit in the fourth inning and the ball scooted under his glove and rolled almost to the wall as two runs scored and the Rays went up 4-2. Jones was not charged with an error, but easily could have been.
He finished 1 for 4 and is batting .390 with two homers and 13 RBI over his first 14 games.
Adam Jones not slowing down
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/12/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones extended his hitting streak to nine games to open the season during Baltimore's 3-2 victory at Boston on Thursday night. Jones went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBI to improve his sterling batting average to .462 (18 for 39).
"I feel good at the plate. I'm just not trying to turn and burn," he said. "I'm just trying to make contact and hit the ball hard and live with the results. That's been my concept since the beginning of the season."
Orioles' RISP average declining
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/10/2013) The Orioles are batting .254 (16 for 63) with runners in scoring position heading into Wednesday's game at Boston, according to MASNsports.com. However, they are just 1 for 9 in their last two games after batting .278 with RISP in the first five games.
Baltimore totaled 34 runs in its first five games and just four in its last two contests. Adam Jones and Chris Davis have been leading the charge, combining to go 10 for 20 (.500) with RISP.
Adam Jones connects for first HR
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/8/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones avoided going hitless for the first time this season Monday at Boston when he connected for a solo home run off Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan to lead off the ninth inning in a 3-1 loss. It was Jones' first home run of the season.
Jones is batting .500 (15 for 30) with eight RBI and 10 runs through seven games. He's hit safely in all seven of the Orioles' games and has more multi-hit games (five) than single-hit games (two).
Adam Jones expresses frustration
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/8/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones expressed frustration after not running out a hard hit ball toward the mound in the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the Twins, according to MASNsports.com.
"You know me, I always give an effort," he said. "I was kind of frustrated that, I guess, the last one, a checked swing I hit it back to the pitcher. I put my head down when I saw it going back to him. I hear that he dropped it and I looked up. It's all my fault on that at-bat, that effort level. I give max effort and I didn't give it in that instant. Trust me, those are the kind of things that frustrate me. I could strike out four times and not be bothered by it, but the lack of effort on my behalf, that frustrates me."
Outside of his lack of hustle Sunday, Jones is off to a fast start in 2013. He's batting .538 (14 for 26) with four doubles, seven RBI and nine runs in six games. He also has one stolen base.
Adam Jones collects three hits and first steal
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/4/2013) Orioles center fielder Adam Jones picked up three hits for the second time in three games Thursday as well as his first stolen base of the year in his team's 6-3 win over the Rays. Jones is now 7 of 14 with five runs and two RBI in 2013.
Adam Jones scores another run
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones matched up against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson on Wednesday night.
Jones, who entered the game batting .321 with a double, three home runs and three RBI in his career against Hellickson, went 1 for 4 on the night in the 8-7 loss to Tampa Bay.
He scored a run in the game and is now batting .444 on the year after going 3 for 5 in the opener with two doubles and two RBI. Jones has scored three runs in his first two games.
Rays pitcher probably not happy to face Adam Jones
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) One player probably happy to see Rays starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson on the mound Wednesday is Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. The 27-year-old center fielder has a good history against the right-handed starter.
Jones is batting .321 (9 for 28) with one double, three home runs and three RBI in his career against Hellickson. Including Tuesday's season opener, Jones is batting .262 with 10 home runs, 15 doubles and 33 RBI in 80 career games against Tampa Bay.
Adam Jones doubles twice among three hits
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/2/2013) Orioles center fielder Adam Jones got his season started off on the right foot Tuesday at Tampa Bay. Facing 2012 American League Cy Young award winner David Price, Jones doubled in the first inning and later scored on Matt Wieters' two-run homer.
Jones, who scored twice during the 7-4 win, led the Orioles with three hits in the game, including two doubles, out of the third spot in the lineup. He finished 3 for 5 with two RBI as his seventh-inning double plated two and gave the Orioles back the lead, 4-3.
The 27-year-old Jones struggled in the Grapefruit League this season batting just .226 with two homers and five RBI.
Will Adam Jones hit a plateau?
by Al Melchior | Data Analyst (4/2/2013) With a pair of hits in his first two at-bats this year, Orioles outfielder Adam Jones got started on the right foot, but he was something of a curiosity in Fantasy last season. Though he didn't make any discernable progress in his skill set, Jones had a career year that featured 32 home runs and 103 runs scored.
Much of the improvement in Jones' stats simply came from playing all 162 games, whereas he had previously never played in more than 151 games in a season. He also benefited from having Matt Wieters behind him in the batting order instead of Vladimir Guerrero, and from an increased line drive rate. Jones will continue to get the benefit of hitting in front of Wieters, but line drive rates are subject to a lot of random fluctuation.
This is not to say that Jones is due for a dropoff, but as a 27-year-old entering his prime, Fantasy owners might look for him to take another leap. Skill-wise, though, Jones hasn't changed much over the last four years. There's nothing wrong with Jones as he is, which is good, because that just might be what Fantasy owners get for this year and the next few years to come.
Adam Jones' bat wakes up Monday
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/25/2013) Orioles center fielder Adam Jones had been struggling mightily since returning from the World Baseball Classic, where he played for Team USA. He took a step in the right direction Monday in a Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox.
Jones, batting third in the order, homered in his second and third at-bats in the game and finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. That improved his spring batting average to just .182. His two homers hit Monday represent his only two in the Grapefruit League thus far and he also three of the four runs he's driven in.
The 27-year-old Jones hit .287 with a career-high 32 homers and 82 RBI last season and has improved with each successive season in the majors.
Jones homers among four hits
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (9/24/2012) Orioles outfielder Adam Jones had a huge game in the first game of a doubleheader against Toronto Monday. Jones went 4 for 4 in the game for his second four-hit game of the season. He hit his 32nd home run in the fourth inning for a two-run shot and just missed a second HR foul before singling to right field. Jones added his 15th stolen base for the Orioles and scored twice. He's batting .292 on the year.
