Nolan

Jones

Both the single and homer left the bat at 106 mph, with the homer traveling 401 feet. Jones cleared waivers at the end of the spring after failing to make the Guardians, but this probably isn’t the end for him. The Guardians are going to be searching for offense all year, and while Jones is no certainty to provide it, he has more upside than a good two-thirds of the players on their roster.

Jones was out of minor league options and has the right to refuse the outright assignment and hit the open market if he chooses to do so. The 27-year-old former top prospect hit a putrid .152 (5-for-33) with one homer, six RBI, one stolen base and a 14/3 K/BB ratio during Cactus League play.

Both of Jones’s balls in play were hit hard, but they went for outs anyway, which is the story of his spring so far; he’s 4-for-32 even though 12 of his 18 balls in play have been hard hit. Of course, it’s not helping that he’s also struck out 14 times. Jones seems unlikely to make the Guardians, even though he’s out of options. A rebuilding team might gamble on him, but it seems more likely that he’d clear waivers and report to Triple-A.

It’s the first spring roundtripper for Jones. The 27-year-old outfielder was atrocious in 2025 with a .211/.296/.304 slash with five homers, but he’s not long removed from being one of the more intriguing outfielders in baseball. Still, fantasy managers would be right to take a wait-and-see approach in this situation.

Fry underwent surgery to repair a deviated septum and fractured nose and missed the postseason after being hit in the face by a fastball from Tarik Skubal. Jones will likely be a platoon outfielder for Cleveland in 2026, while Festa should again work in the middle innings.

It’s likely a season-ending injury for Jones, even if Cleveland winds up making the postseason. The 27-year-old corner outfielder has batted just .211/.296/.304 with five homers and eight steals in 136 games.

Jones’ home run was just his fifth of the year. While the 27-year-old outfielder has been a bust this year, he displayed all the skills that made him an interesting fantasy entity before the season on Friday. Jones hit a solo home run off tiring starter George Kirby in the seventh inning and lead-off the ninth inning with a double as the tying-run. Jones is hitting .219 with a .632 OPS and 31 RBI on the season.

Kyle Manzardo had the game-ending hit off Griffin Jax after the Rays failed to score in their half of the 10th. Jones already had a single on the day before his 428-foot blast. It was just his second start in seven games, but he might have a bigger role going forward with the Guardians seemingly partly or fully moving on from Carlos Santana. Jones is batting just .215/.309/.305 in 344 plate appearances, but Statcast thinks he’s been pretty unlucky. Today’s homer was only his fifth, even though he has 18 barrels. His hard-hit rate sits at 47%, and his 26.7% strikeout rate, while not great, is considerably better than his career mark of 30.4%.

Kwan will sit out his second straight contest after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection during the All-Star break to address a lingering right wrist injury. The 27-year-old outfielder might wind up sitting out a few additional games, but we’re not forecasting an extended absence. It’ll be Nolan Jones taking over in left field on Saturday afternoon in his absence.

The Athletics will then follow with Luis Severino on Saturday and Jeffrey Springs on Sunday, which means Jacob Lopez will start on Monday against the Rangers. The Guardians are a platoon-heavy team, so getting two left-handed starters on the weekend means hitters like Nolan Jones and Kyle Manzardo are likely to be on the bench.