Rutgers baseball lands Miami transfer JD Jones

Rutgers baseball continues to be active in the transfer portal as the program rebuilds the roster for next season. On Wednesday, it was announced that Miami transfer JD Jones committed to head coach Steve Owens. Catcher is a position of need for RU and Jones has potential to become the primary option next season.

Rutgers Nation, join us as we welcome JD Jones to the Scarlet Knights ‼️

A Colorado native, JD joins us after two years at the University of Miami.

Why Rutgers? “It is a winning baseball program and a great culture led by Coach Owens.”

Let’s work, @JD_Jones7!#TCD pic.twitter.com/41C6qj9Ni3

— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) June 21, 2023

Jones was the backup catcher this past season for a Miami team that went 42-21 and won two games in the NCAA Tournament. He saw limited action in 11 games, going 3 of 10 at the plate with an RBI and a walk. Over two seasons, Jones played in 30 games for the Hurricanes. He hit .296 at the plate along with 2 RBIs and 4 walks. The 6’0″, 211 pounder from Boulder, Colorado has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

He was a top 500 national recruit out of high school were he was an First Team All-Region selection for Fairview. He his .409 his senior season.

Rutgers struck gold in the transfer portal in 2022 in adding catcher Nick Cimillo. He led the Big Ten with a .385 batting average, .707 SLG% and 1.199 OPS earning All-American honors. Redshirt senior Andy Axelson was the primary catcher this past season hitting .333 with 5 homers and 27 RBIs. Backup catchers Jason Shockley and Danny Melnick are in the transfer portal so catching was a big hole to fill this offseason. Jones has an opportunity to seize the starting role behind the plate for the Scarlet Knights next season.

The Scarlet Knights have now added five players through the transfer portal so far this offseason. They’ve added three pitchers including St. John’s transfer Sonny Fauci earlier this week. Jones joins outfielder Pete Ciuffreda from Lafayette as position players who have transferred in. Expect Owens and the staff to continue to target transfers in the portal this summer.

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