OF James Jones Recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to Replace Abraham Almonte

Mar 11, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners right fielder

(99) follows through on a swing against the Los Angeles Angels in the seventh inning at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

With Abraham Almonte being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after last night’s 8-7 victory over the Astros, the question remained: who would the Mariners call up to replace him?

Would they elect to snag another reliever for the overworked bullpen? Or replace the struggling outfielder with someone to back up Michael Saunders in centerfield?

The M’s chose the latter, bringing James Jones to the Major League squad for the second time this season. In his first stint he filled the roster when Erasmo Ramirez was sent down to the minors.

Jones had one at-bat in his time with the M’s, and sports one of the tidiest triple slash lines because of it: 1.000/1.000/1.000 going 1-1 with a single.

In my opinion Jones was the best choice to call up to the 25-man roster, seeing as he can play all outfield positions, especially centerfield. With only 4 other outfielders on the roster– Saunders, Dustin Ackley, Stefen Romero, and Cole Gillespie— it was the smart move to bring up another supporting outfield guy.

Through 20 games down in Tacoma James Jones was batting .313/.382/.450 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. He also had 2 doubles and a triple. Moreover, he had 8 walks to 16 strikeouts.

Look for Jones to get some starts in the Mariners outfield as it becomes more and more platoon oriented.

Welcome back to Seattle; if you put up decent numbers, you’ll be staying for a while.