Spencer Jones has had a chaotic 2025 campaign, as the Yankees have both seen the slugging outfielder strike out at rates matching last year while also having much more raw power.
He was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A with the Yankees hoping that he could be challenged by older competition, as some scouts would be inherently skeptical of someone repeating a level and having success.
Since being moved up to Triple-A, Spencer Jones has been one of the best hitters in all of Minor League Baseball, rocking a 215 wRC+ and 1.258 OPS.
What we’re also seeing is a massive improvement in contact rates, an improvement that could take this volatile profile and make it big-league viable.
A Decreasing Whiff Rate Could Make Spencer Jones Even More Valuable to the Yankees
No hitter with at least 250 plate appearances at the Minor League level has a higher wRC+ than Spencer Jones at 192, and his 21 home runs in 60 games is beyond impressive.
He’s among the top sluggers in all of Minor League Baseball in the home run category despite the fact that he missed almost a full month of action with an abductor injury.
The Yankees have seen Spencer Jones decrease his groundball rate from 42.3% to 30.1% and as a result, he’s hitting way more home runs as there’s more elevated contact.
Now in Triple-A, we’re seeing the whiffs and strikeouts come crashing down from where they were at in Somerset, as he’s striking out just 27.8% of the time with a 65.8% Contact%.
Neither of those marks will give him a good contact tool, but a version of Spencer Jones with a 30-grade contact tool might be able to produce big numbers at the Major League level.
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He’s still whiffing way more than the average hitter does, but as we see the whiffs start coming down, there are some encouraging signs it’s starting to reveal.
Spencer Jones has a 16.1% Barrel% and a 93.1 Average Exit Velocity, he’s displaying 80-grade raw power while observing improvements in his contact abilities.
This has resulted in a .437 xwOBA, which is utterly elite for the Triple-A level even with the run environment being more extreme than the other full-season levels.
With the Arizona Diamondbacks reportedly valuing Spencer Jones as a trade chip in a potential Eugenio Suarez deal (according to NJ.com), he could serve as either an excellent piece to cash in at the deadline or a 2026 outfield option.
With 16 stolen bases and strong defense in the outfield, the 2022 first-round pick is still a remarkable athlete who can contribute positive value outside of his bat.
If the Yankees can continue to see the slugger mature at the plate, they could go a lot of directions with his career and walk away with some value.
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