Is the recent criticism of Adam Jones valid?

Adam Jones, at his current pace, will finish with the following statistics at the end of the 2013 regular season: A batting average of .291 with 39 doubles, 28 homers, 16 steals, 107 runs and 109 RBIs. He has made his third All-Star team and was the leading vote getter among outfielders in the American League. If his numbers remain the same, he will set career highs in batting average and RBIs and it would be his second highest homer total. Six of Jones' last eight homers have come against Mariano Rivera, Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, Matt Moore, Max Scherzer and R.A.Dickey. He is batting .318 with runners in scoring position, .350 with runners on base and .429 with the bases loaded. Yet some commenters on this blog insist that AL pitchers can get him out anytime they want by getting him to chase a pitch. Guess some nights the opposing pitchers don't want to get him out. Wonder if Rivera wanted to get Jones out in the ninth on Sunday? On some teams, a player producing numbers like this would be hailed as a star. But now, because Jones has not hit as well the last few weeks, and because he has walked once since June 1, he gets constant criticism. I get it. He's not the perfect player and you'd like him to walk more. I get it, he frustrates you when he chases pitches. When he owns up to it after the game, some of you find a way to criticize that. I look at Jones and see a player that is a star and leader on an O's team that has turned around 14 years of losing. He is respected in the clubhouse. He has become a leader not with his words, but with his actions. I see a man that has embraced the Baltimore community and does enough community work in and around Baltimore to fill up 10 blogs, but he doesn't do it so someone like me will write about it. Yet, he shouldn't get a pass for his often poor strike zone discipline. He didn't from me when I asked him about chasing pitches and if the team was pressing after the game last night. But while focusing on that and questioning him about it and hoping he will improve in that area, we should not forget the season he is having overall. Right now, I feel some are making Jones the scapegoat for the recent lack of offense and the losing. He should get heat for his part in the losing, but not for all of it. When focusing on his walk total on the stat sheet, don't forget his other totals is all I'm saying. Home Run derby winner: Not sure how Chris Davis will do in the All-Star game's Home Run derby competition next week, but last night Caleb Joseph of the O's organization won the Home Run derby competition at the Double-A Eastern League All-Star game. For more click here.