D-backs’ Druw Jones rips RBI double in World Baseball Classic, dad celebrates in dugout

Diamondbacks outfielder prospect Druw Jones started his World Baseball Classic with an RBI double, as his Hall of Fame father, Andruw Jones, watched on from the dugout on Friday.

The younger Jones, 22, is representing the Netherlands for the first time in his career, with his father managing for the first time. The older Jones is from Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela that is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Jones’ make up the first father-son, manager-player duo in WBC history.

“As soon as he knew he was managing, he kind of let me know,” Druw told reporters on Friday. “He was like, ‘Hey, man, if you’re going to be able to play, we’re going to have you on the roster.’ Of course I’m going to accept. Just had to wait on the team’s approval, and they were all backing it 100 percent.”

In the Netherlands’ opening Pool D game against Venezuela, Jones grounded a sinker up the middle and hustled his way to second base for an RBI double in the second inning.

Druw Jones and Team Netherlands quickly answer back! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/AyB5jOUo3V

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 6, 2026

What a moment 🥹

Hall of Famer Andruw Jones watches his son knock in Team Netherlands’ first #WorldBaseballClassic run! https://t.co/CMN2Oe9Pl2 pic.twitter.com/A5miF8D9Zs

— MLB (@MLB) March 6, 2026

In his second at-bat on Friday, Jones struck out swinging, but he recorded another RBI in his third plate appearance, a sacrifice fly that scored Didi Gregorius.

The older Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove winner who was recently elected to the 2026 MLB Hall of Fame class, told reporters he had never coached his son before, not even as a youth player.

But emphasized he treats everyone the same, even his son.

“It’s awesome. Like I say, I never coached him as a youth baseball player,” Jones said. “This is a great honor. This is good for him to represent the country that I come from, just like everybody else. Like Dominican players that have guys that were born in the United States and represent their family’s country.”

Jones has long been known for his defense and last season was named Minor League Defensive Player of the Year and was also a minor league Gold Glove recipient.

However, his bat has also impressed this spring. In Diamondbacks spring training games, Jones is slashing .333/.333/.500 and has two doubles in 12 plate appearances.

“It’s awesome. I think the experience is always big. I like to see a lot of young guys come out here and experience this because this kind of changes their career-wise of how to get started playing big games early in their career,” Jones said of his son getting WBC experience.

“Nobody wants to go out there and play nine innings in spring training. So they’re still in spring training, but they’re playing real games. So I always love young guys to come out so we can see what they’ve got.”

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