Taylor Jones is about to enter the Houston Astros’ clogged pipeline already well-traversed by the likes of fellow position player prospects Myles Straw, Kyle Tucker, Jack Mayfield, Garrett Stubbs, and Abraham Toro.

While the aforementioned have all made their MLB debuts, despite their on-field positions being defended by well-established stars, Jones is still awaiting his turn in The Show, but he’ll have to undergo one more “audition.” For the former high school basketball player and college pitcher, it’ll happen in 2020.

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

The Astros’ 28th-ranked prospect, Jones‘ main position is first base, which is currently manned, more than ably, by Yuli Gurriel. Signed out of Cuba as an international free agent in July 2016, the 35-year-old’s original five-year, $47.5 million contract runs through 2020, after which he’ll be a free agent.

As per that contract, Yuli was provided a player option in his final year to either renegotiate or opt-out and go to arbitration. He chose the former, as he and the team agreed to a 2020 salary of $8.3 million in November, an increase over his original $8 million paycheck for the coming season.

Over his four seasons in Houston, Gurriel has shown he’s earned his raise by slashing .293/.330/.478 with a 115 OPS+. He had career highs last season with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs. Yuli was named AL Player of the Month for July after hitting .408 with 12 homers and 31 RBIs. He was also an AL Gold Glove finalist.

The post-2020 horizon may look a little rosier for Jones and other young Astros, as several entrenched veterans slam into free agency following this season, including outfielders George Springer, Michael Brantley, and Josh Reddick.

Jones has also played left field 35 times in Houston’s minor league system since being drafted in the 19th round in 2016 out of Gonzaga. But, his main position is at the first base bag, with 321 games logged there in his four pro seasons.

The 6’7″, 225-pound, right-handed batter (and thrower) has spent the last season-and-a-third at Houston’s AAA level (the last six weeks of 2018 with Fresno Grizzlies and 2019 with Round Rock Express, following the team’s move back to central Texas).

In 2018, Jones turned a personal corner for Houston’s Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, cracking 13 home runs with 63 RBIs. He was even named the Texas League All-Star Game MVP, which led to his promotion to Triple-A.

“[The progression through the system has] probably been a little faster than anticipated,” Jones told the Hill Country News in July 2019. “I’ve been trying to keep up, produce when I can, and kind of continue to build myself as a player.

“I had a good year last year and figured some things out, especially offensively,” Jones revealed. “I’m just kind of carrying it over to this year and just trying to put something together. I’m understanding the Triple-A pitching.”

Keeping Up With Jones

In 125 games for the Round Rock Express in 2019, Jones hit .291, with a .889 OPS, 28 doubles, 22 homers, and 84 RBIs, with a 116 wRC+. He struck out 112 times while taking a walk 68 times.

Jones’ lanky build has been a blessing and a curse for him. He can create a lot of leverage with his long limbs but he’s encountered trouble in the past lunging at pitches with his overly long swings. Power started to enter his game when he learned to stay back on pitches.

Jones has also improved his use of the entire field at the plate while adopting Houston’s organizational mandate of lifting the ball. Job one has been learning to hit the ball far, not just hard.

Adding some well-distributed muscle might help Jones come closer to being a power threat. Fans would drool imagining a one-two, righty-lefty power punch of Jones and Yordan Alvarez in the middle of the Astros’ lineup in a year or two.

Houston’s Human (But Penetrable) Wall at First Base

Would the 26-year-old Jones be the one to slip in behind El Yuli, should the veteran succumb to an injury this year? No. That duty would go to utility man, Aledmys Diaz, who took over first base for 26 games in 2019, a handful of them coming when Yuli went down with hamstring issues the first week of September.

Kyle Tucker, looking to possibly supplant Josh Reddick in right field, is no stranger to first base, having played 15 games there in 2019, 11 with Round Rock. Tucker, 23, not only graduated from Houston’s top 30 prospect list recently but just one at-bat last season suddenly exhausted his rookie status.

Reddick has a first baseman’s mitt, as well, but he’ll have to bring it out of mothballs. He’s only played five games there in the bigs, all with Houston (four last year, one in 2017).

As for reigning AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez, a DH and occasional left fielder, former manager AJ Hinch was loathe to put him at first, noting his apparent deficiencies there. Even though he played first base in 71 Cuban games, his number of games at the corner in Houston’s system dwindled as each of his four minor league campaigns came and went.

2020 Foresight (or The Hidden Sanction?)

Taylor Jones, and how and where (and when) he fits into the ‘Stros’ scheme of things this season, will be dependent largely on how he’s able to impress new manager Dusty Baker during Spring Training.

One of the many hurdles all the team’s newcomers will face is the lack of smooth transition having Hinch at the helm would have afforded them. Hinch had a plan, he had his prospects all in a row with general timelines of each’s progression, and all with his current lineup in mind.

However capable Dusty is and will be in his new role, he’ll still have to rely, to a large degree, on the stats on paper as well as the opinions of others regarding Astros’ prospects. At least until he can observe, first-hand, live game action himself.

All that leaves Jones opening 2020 in Round Rock, which he would have done anyway, unquestionably, with Hinch in charge.

Houston’s options at 1B behind Yuli are thin at best, and certainly patchwork, without a certifiably capable veteran at that position to spell La Piña in case of injury. Diaz is the first option and would be a steady substitute in his utility role. But, Diaz’ value to Baker (as it was with Hinch) will be more suitable if he were left available to give daily lineup respites to the other regulars.

So, Spring Training begins, or as it’s known to Taylor Jones, “just another audition.”