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'It lived up to it': Nolan Jones caps wild 2 weeks after trade with walk-off win
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- 'It lived up to it': Nolan Jones caps wild 2 weeks after trade with walk-off win
CLEVELAND — Nolan Jones' furniture hasn't yet been delivered. His daughter's crib isn't yet here. His fiancé's bags haven't gotten to Cleveland from California.
But he's already notched a walk-off win and an ensuing celebration with his new (and former) Guardians teammates .
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It's been a whirlwind few weeks for Jones. He thought he'd break spring training camp with the Colorado Rockies but, only a few days before Opening Day , the Rockies surprised the Guardians by offering him up via trade in exchange for infielder Tyler Freeman .
Jones quickly gathered his things and made his way from the Rockies' spring facility to the Guardians' complex in Goodyear, Ariz. The Guardians then opened the season by traveling to Kansas City. Then they traveled directly to San Diego . And then to Anaheim to play the Angels.
It was living out of a suitcase, boarding planes and getting in some batting practice in between.
Finally, they arrived back in Cleveland early Monday morning, ahead of Tuesday's home opener against the Chicago White Sox .
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It was a homecoming of sorts for Jones, who was dealt away from Cleveland after the 2022 season . It was also the first time he had a chance to catch his breath in the hours and days after the trade, and all the travel, and an endless list of coordination.
Then there's the baseball side of it, while all of this is going on around him. Jones has hit the ball hard — his average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage are both in the top quartile of the league — but the hits haven't followed like he had hoped.
"The past two weeks have been absolutely insane for me with everything in my life," Jones said. "I felt like I had been hitting the ball well. I was just, like, when's something going to go my way?"
Nolan Jones celebrates after his walk-off walk for the Guardians in the ninth inning of their home opener against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Cleveland.
Nolan Jones wins Guardians home opener with walk-off walk
That opportunity presented itself in the bottom of the ninth inning of Tuesday's home opener. The Guardians and White Sox entered that half inning still looking for the game's first run.
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Mike Clevinger , currently with the White Sox and formerly with Cleveland, loaded the bases with nobody out via an infield single and two walks. That led to Jones with an opportunity to win the game in his return to Cleveland as a member of the Guardians.
Jones worked the count to 3-1. The next pitch was a fastball up in the zone, and Jones launched it down the right-field line, only missing a walk-off grand slam by mere feet. Manager Stephen Vogt couldn't help but smile at him from the dugout.
"He has a chance to walk it off and misses a grand slam by about 10, 15 feet, and I was just like, 'Oh, that would've been such a cool moment,'" Vogt said after the game. "And I was just smiling right at him. It's like, you can't control where you hit the ball, where it goes. And so I just wanted him to relax. You have to laugh at the game. Sometimes you have to smile because it's real easy … to lose your focus on the next pitch."
The next pitch ended up being another fastball right on the lower edge of the strike zone , no more than an inch from being strike three. Jones took it for a game-winning ball and a walk-off walk.
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It was a display of restraint for a hitter facing a game-winning situation and not trying to do too much, which isn't always an easy task.
"With the bases loaded in a full count, being able to spit on ball four, that's huge," said Kyle Manzardo , who drew one of the walks in the ninth. "It was honestly an incredible game for him."
Roughly two weeks, a trade, a ton of packed bags, several flights, endless messages coordinating everything and a few shipments of luggage and furniture to Cleveland, and shortly after arriving, Jones was being mobbed by first base in celebration of a walk-off win.
Jones took a quick tour of Progressive Field on Monday to become reacclimated. A day later, he won the team's home opener.
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"Yeah, we actually came yesterday to see the park, and I'm glad I did it," Jones said. "I kind of got that little jittery, tingly feeling again. … I was looking forward to this since the day I heard I was coming over here, and it lived up to it, for sure."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nolan Jones trade leads to Cleveland Guardians home opener win
