CLEARWATER, Fla. — The New York Yankees told Spencer Jones on Monday that he was heading to minor league camp. Jones took it like a professional. Then he showed up Tuesday and hit a baseball 416 feet.
If the message was not clear before, it should be now. The 24-year-old outfielder is tired of waiting and he is not interested in being anyone’s trade chip.
Jones crushed an opposite-field home run to left-center in the second inning of a 4-2 Yankees win over the Phillies at BayCare Ballpark. It was his fourth long ball of the spring. No hitter on any team has more. He finished the day 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Jones refuses to go quietly after demotion
The demotion stung. Jones admitted as much without pretending otherwise.
“You never want to hear it, but it is what it is,” Jones said. “I’ve got a lot of good work to do, and then obviously I’ve got a whole long season ahead of us. Opportunities are available and it’s just about taking advantage of them.”
Monday: Spencer Jones was reassigned to Minor League camp
The move was expected. The Yankees outfield is stacked with Judge, Grisham, Bellinger, Stanton at DH, and the late addition of Grichuk. That left Jones and Jasson Dominguez fighting for scraps, with both likely headed to Triple-A.
But Jones made it clear he believes he belongs at the big league level right now.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve gotten out of this year is a feeling of I belong and that I can compete,” Jones said.
The Ohtani-inspired swing changes are working
What makes this spring different from past cameos is the quality of contact. Jones overhauled his batting stance and swing during the offseason, modeling parts of his approach after Shohei Ohtani. The results have been hard to ignore.
Through 10 Grapefruit League games, Jones is hitting .333 with four home runs and eight RBIs. His strikeout rate has dropped to 28 percent in 25 plate appearances. That is a 20 percent decrease from last season’s 35.6 percent rate, which came entirely against minor league pitching.
“I feel very still,” Jones said. “I feel very stable. It’s just about being on time and swinging at the right pitches.”
The numbers at Triple-A last season already showed real progress. Jones hit 35 home runs, stole 29 bases and played excellent center field defense across Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton. His spring performance, against major league arms, suggests the growth is not slowing down.
Yankees hitting coach James Rowson has praised the plan and discipline Jones has brought to every at-bat this camp. Aaron Boone offered a measured but encouraging assessment.
“I don’t want to over or under-react to anything, but I do feel like day in and day out he’s been putting up solid at-bats,” Boone said. “That’s encouraging, especially when you consider the talent he has and the ceiling that he has. He continues to get better.”
A scout’s blunt prediction fuels the fire
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One major league scout who was at Tuesday’s game had an interesting take. The evaluator told NJ.com that if the Yankees put Jones in the big leagues right now and let him play 150 games, he would project for around 35 home runs, 85 RBIs and a .210 batting average. The scout added that Jones would also steal bases and play a good center field.
“A lot of teams would take that from a rookie,” the scout said.
That projection matters because Jones has been the subject of trade chatter for months, even as the Yankees have kept him out of deals since drafting him in 2022. His name has fallen off most top-100 prospect lists. ESPN’s Jorge Castillo recently reported that the combination of Jones’ strikeout issues and his age has caused his trade value to sink.
But his spring performance is pushing back against that narrative. If someone is going to trade for Jones, they would be getting a player who looks markedly improved. And if the Yankees hold on to him, he could force his way into the lineup if Trent Grisham stumbles early.
The 6-foot-7, 240-pound slugger, drafted 25th overall by the Yankees in 2022 out of Vanderbilt, has always had the tools. The swing-and-miss held him back. Now the swing changes are producing harder contact with fewer whiffs. If that trend holds at Triple-A, the Yankees may not be able to keep him down for long.
Boone tells Jones to force their hand
Boone sat Jones down Monday and delivered a message that was part reality check and part challenge.
“One of the things I’ve told him is there’s things that are out of your control,” Boone said. “As best you can, you’ve got to focus because there’s still improvements that he needs to make in his game. The good thing is, he’s done that.”
“The reality is he’s pushing through right now. He is knocking on that door. All you can do is handle your business and take care of your end of the bargain and force us into a situation.”
Jones is not thinking about trade rumors or what-ifs. He is locked in on the work.
“I don’t really think about what could be,” Jones said. “It’s more about what do we’ve got right now. Just focus on the day to day and showing up to work and getting the job done.”
The Yankees know what they have. So does every scout watching from behind home plate. The only question now is how long Jones stays in the minors before he forces their hand.
Esteban Quinones is a proud graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Growing up just blocks away from Yankee Stadium in Upper Manhattan, Esteban developed a deep love for the New York Yankees, a passion that has been a constant throughout his life. Whether it's cheering for the Yankees or crafting strategic communications, Esteban brings dedication and enthusiasm to producing content around all things Yankees.
They always say he strikes out to much, but people forget Judge was the same when he was coming up. He still K’s a lot but look at the hitter he’s become given the chance. Not saying Jones will be another Judge, but we’ll never know until he gets his shot.
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They always say he strikes out to much, but people forget Judge was the same when he was coming up. He still K’s a lot but look at the hitter he’s become given the chance. Not saying Jones will be another Judge, but we’ll never know until he gets his shot.