Alexander Wilson
While the Yankees were handling business against Baltimore on Sunday afternoon, Spencer Jones was doing his thing in Scranton in a way that’s becoming impossible to ignore. The 24-year-old left-handed slugger went yard twice against Jose Barrios, the first one a 117.4 mph bullet to right field that was gone before the outfielder even moved, and the second a 406-foot grand slam hit at 111.1 mph off the bat. That is not a hot streak. That is a player announcing himself.
Entering the day, Jones was hitting .252/.362/.533 with eight homers and 32 RBIs for Triple-A Scranton. His 33.9% strikeout rate is still a legitimate concern, but his 12.6% walk rate makes the profile at least workable, and the power production has been so relentless that the strikeouts become harder to use as a reason to keep him down. He’s basically hitting a home run every three days at this point in the season, and the exit velocities he’s generating are not Triple-A numbers. They’re major league numbers.
The Swing Change and the Mindset
Jones spent the offseason reworking his swing, and he talked openly about modeling it after Shohei Ohtani. “He’s a great reference of a really good mover with a great swing,” Jones said earlier this year. “He’s one of those guys that I look at with some of the stuff he does, and I try to apply it in whichever way I can.”
That kind of intentional self-improvement from a prospect who already has elite raw tools is exactly the attitude the Yankees want to see. He came into spring training confident too, telling reporters after being sent down that “the biggest thing I’ve gotten out of this year is the feeling that I belong and I can compete,” per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
He’s right. He does belong. The question has never been his talent. It’s always been whether the bat-to-ball issues can be managed enough to let the power play at the highest level, and Sunday’s performance adds more evidence to the case that the answer is yes.
Why the Door Isn’t Open Yet
The problem is the Yankees’ outfield is legitimately stacked right now. Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grisham hold the three starting spots. Jasson Dominguez is back in the fold as the fourth outfielder after his elbow scare, and he’s been productive since returning with a two-run homer and an RBI double against Baltimore on Sunday. There’s no opening.
That said, the Yankees have already seen what happens when injuries hit this outfield. Giancarlo Stanton went down, Dominguez got hit by a pitch, and suddenly the roster was scrambling. Jones is one injury away from getting his shot, and with the performances he’s been putting up, that shot should come with real playing time rather than a bench role.
At 6-foot-7, 240 pounds with the kind of raw power he’s generating at 117 mph, Jones is a problem for any pitcher in any league. The Yankees have been patient with him and they’ve been right to be. The strikeout rate needs to keep trending down, and Sunday didn’t help that number, but two home runs off the bat at those exit velocities says everything you need to know about where his ceiling sits.
He’s knocking on the door loud enough that everybody in the Bronx can hear it.
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