After a dismal season, New York Yankees prospect Spencer Jones hopes that slugger Aaron Judge can help him get back on track. “He’s an incredible hitter.” When I come to spring training, I think I’ll have more questions than ever before about what he does, his drill work, and all of that,” Jones told the YES Network. “I’m excited to get to work with him this spring.”
Jones drew comparisons to the Yankees captain last spring with his similar size and power, and had the Yankees excited with his performance in the Spring Breakout Game. But then he moved on and had a tough year in the minors. He set a franchise record for strikeouts in a season, becoming the first Yankee minor leaguer to reach 200.
Jones understands that if he is to live up to the hype, he must make changes. On the “Yankees Hot Stove” show, he stated that he is concentrating on his strategy this winter. “The ultimate goal for me was finding out what that approach is going to be at the end of the day I felt most successful with,” Jones told the audience. “A lot of what I’ve been doing this offseason, stroke-wise, is putting myself in a position to swing the bat whenever I want. Last year, I kept telling myself it was time to swing, but my body wasn’t in the right posture, so I was just missing the ball.”
Jones, 23, struck out 200 times in 544 plate appearances at Double-A last season (almost 37%). He hit.259/.336/.453 with 17 home runs, 78 RBIs, and 25 steals, indicating a productive season despite the high strikeout rate. This winter, Baseball America ranked Jones as the Yankees’ sixth-best prospect, down from second.
Jones first caught the attention of Yankees fans last spring when he won the team’s award for the most outstanding rookie in major league camp. In 12 spring games, the outfielder batted.444/.565/.722, with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI. In the MLB Spring Breakout Game, Jones went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs.
