Are the Yankees preparing to play without AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge?
Nope.
Not yet. But it was easy to believe that when the Yankees chosen Vanderbilt outfielder Spencer Jones in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft on Sunday.
Judge will be a free agent after this season.
Jones is a giant at 6-foot-7, 225 pounds and he hits from the left side.
Jones, an Encinitas, California, hit.370 with eight home runs and 64 RBI in 61 games as a junior in 2022. In 230 at-bats, he struck out 64 times.
Baseball America has a scouting report on Jones:
“Jones has plenty of power in his 6-7, 225-pound frame, with the average and top-end exit velocities to back that up. He has clear plus raw power, but hasn’t tapped into that quite as much as scouts have expected thanks in part to a heavy backside approach. He’s still a plus runner despite his size and will turn in 4.15-second home-to-first times, with the speed to be a threat on the bases and play an above-average corner outfield position.”
According to the draftniks, the Yankees reached a little picking Jones 25th overall. He was ranked the 49th best prospect by Baseball America, 51st best by MLB.com.
“There are not many kids his size that are as athletic and move as well as he does,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said.
Jones joined at Vanderbilt as a two-way player, but he gave up pitching after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. The injury occurred while he was pitching for a summer team in California after the majority of his college season was canceled due to COVID. During his senior year of high school, he also suffered an elbow fracture in his pitching arm.
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