How analytics helped Diamondbacks' Adam Jones get quicker amid transition to right field

WASHINGTON — Diamondbacks outfielder Adam Jones may have four Gold Glove awards adorning his mantle at home, but analytics have painted a much different picture of Jones’ performance in center field over the past few years.

Through the years, the 33-year-old Jones has experienced an expected decline in defensive performance that dipped further than many would have predicted between 2016-18. But Jones, who has become the Diamondbacks’ everyday right fielder, seems to have embraced those same analytics in an effort to improve.

According the Defensive Runs Saved metric, a statistic that measures the number of runs a player saved or cost his team on defense relative to an average player, Jones…