Evan Jones was a sneaky draft arm in the 2025 cycle coming out of Methacton High, but ended up at Wake Forest after overtures from the coaching staff insisting they'd get him throwing much, much harder in Winston-Salem.
They were right.
Jones was mostly 90-92 in high school and reportedly touched 94 toward the end of his senior year. Upon arriving to Wake Forest, that quickly shot up to 99 in the fall of his freshman year. Better still, he's holding his velocity. Jones can maintain 94-97 a second time through a lineup and can sit 96-99 when asked to pitch an inning or two. Jones' newfound velocity, paired with unique angles he presents to hitters, make for a difficult at-bat. He launches from 64-inch slot and nearly two-feet wide of the rubber. Jones maintains some carry on his fastball, sneaking up on hitters that don't respect his arm talent. It's every bit that of plus fastball projection, and should he harness the ability to hold 96-99 in shorter outings, Jones could own one of better fastballs in baseball when he's commanding it.
Jones pairs a mid 80s sweeping slider, up to 89, that can rank among the best breaking balls in college baseball when he's on. It's a plus pitch, even with the denigration of the sweeper in MLB in recent yeras. He will flash a low-80s changeup to lefties at the dish. His secondaries lag behind the fastball quality, but his unique release traits and propensity for spin point toward a leverage arm at a mininum at the next level.
Jones' operation works. It's a loose arm, a slingshot delivery and more than enough strikes to be considered draft-worthy.