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Spencer Jones struck out 200 times in 2024. Why the Yankees still believe in the former first-round pick
Feb 22, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones (78) hits a home run during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
By Brendan Kuty
2h ago
11
TAMPA, Fla. — Spencer Jones waited. It was a 1-2 count, but the strikeout-prone former first-round pick wasn’t desperate. Instead, he focused as the 83-mph splitter from Toronto Blue Jays righty Eric Pardinho began tumbling down and away. Then he struck, sending the pitch high into the air and over the left-field wall for an opposite-field home run, his first of spring training this year.
Days later, Yankees big-league hitting coach James Rowson remembered it well.
“He mishit that ball and it went a long way,” Rowson said.
It was the kind of moment the Yankees believe Jones — their No. 4 overall prospect who could start this season at Triple A — can produce in spades if he can make more contact.
The Yankees still believe in the 23-year-old’s big-time power to go along with solid defense in center field and surprising speed on the bases.
“The thing with Spencer is, the ceiling is enormous because it’s real defense, it’s real power, it’s real speed,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters last week. “It looks like he has the ability to control the strike zone, but it’s just going to be harnessing that size and that swing.”
Spencer Jones clears the left field wall 💪 #SpringTraining pic.twitter.com/czeUp8VbVP
— MLB (@MLB) February 22, 2025
Harnessing his swing — or, more plainly, doing anything he can to strike out less — was Jones’ main goal in the offseason.
Already, the changes appear drastic. When the Yankees drafted Jones out of Vanderbilt in 2022, he held his hands high above his head. In the box, the 6-foot-6 Jones now seems more hunched over, with his hands lower and his front side more closed than it was in spring training last season.
“Just some stuff with the lower half where I thought my swing would be started but it wasn’t,” Jones said of the adjustments. “I felt like I was making great decisions and I was seeing the ball well and I was on time, but the process of me getting in position to get the barrel across wasn’t going. So just shortening those things up.”
It may be difficult for some to judge whether Jones had a good year in 2024.
He spent the full season at Double A and his 200 strikeouts were the most by any minor leaguer in Yankees history. He struck out an astounding 36.8 percent of the time in 544 plate appearances. In the majors, the Athletics’ Zack Gelof led all hitters with at least 500 plate appearances with a 34.4 strikeout percentage. If Jones’ contact frequency doesn’t jump, he may not even reach the big leagues.
But Jones was still a productive hitter last season. He had a 124 wRC+, hitting .259 with a .335 on-base percentage and 17 home runs. And the numbers show that he’s a monster when he simply puts the ball in play. When you remove the plate appearances that ended in a strikeout, Jones slashed 443/.532/.773, according to River Ave Blues’ Mike Axisa. The Eastern League average was .327/.420/.510.
Still, though Baseball America and MLB Pipeline ranked Jones among their top 100 prospects going into 2024, he wasn’t on either publication’s list heading into this season.
“I’m not dwelling on the past and what was,” he said. “I feel like I’ve made a lot of strides.”
Jones said he was proud that he played in 122 games and stayed healthy. In 2019, as a high school senior, he fractured his elbow pitching. In 2020, as a college freshman, he needed Tommy John surgery. Over three seasons at Vandy, he played just 109 games.
“I definitely took a lot of positives, a lot of learning experiences out of last year,” Jones said. “The results weren’t the things that we wanted, but there were still a lot of positives to look at. I know that I’m still developing as a player and I’m looking forward to the progress we made in this offseason and making it part of my spring.”
He also dealt with tragedy.
Mike Brumley, Jones’ then-personal hitting coach and a former MLB infielder, died in a multi-car accident June 15. Brumley was also a personal hitting coach for Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley.
“Caught me out of nowhere,” Jones said. “Saw him a couple of days before that happened. Just like that, somebody on your side is gone. It’s tough. It’s definitely really tough for a lot of guys. It’s tough for the family. It’s tough for (Brumley’s) son. It’s tough for everybody. … My job is to put myself in position to perform every night. Those things are tough off the field.”
At this point, Jones’ path to the majors is uncertain. Aaron Judge should be the Yankees’ right fielder for the foreseeable future. With a solid rookie season, Jasson Domínguez could become entrenched as the left fielder. In center field, Cody Bellinger could opt out of his contract after this season. But he has a $25 million player option with a $5 million buyout for 2026.
Rowson is already dreaming of when Jones could be ready for pinstripes.
“You see guys like that, and I call them long hitters,” the hitting coach said. “Long legs, long arms. It takes a little bit of time to figure that out. But you watch him and he’s hungry and he’s always looking to adjust. You watch him try to find his rhythm and timing and try to find the move consistently. I like his work ethic. I like how he gets after it. As he keeps getting opportunities and he keeps getting chances and keeps gaining experience, hopefully we see it become a little more consistent. But the tools are off the charts.”
Rowson said he believes Jones will thrive when “his swing becomes more consistent.”
“When I watch guys not have to struggle to make contact, you start to look and ask why,” Rowson said. “Is it a recognition issue? Is it a mechanical issue? Once you define what the issue is, then you can attack it that way. But with him, he’s just got to find consistency in what he’s doing regularly, and I think he’s on his way to doing that. I think we will see more contact.”
As for whether Jones will ultimately reach his ceiling?
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “He’s obviously going to have that runway to figure that out and hopefully he can make those necessary adjustments that allow him to reach that ceiling.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6162250/2025/02/27/spencer-jones-yankees-prospect-strikeouts/
Auburn Baseball Player Hits Home Run Hours After Mom Passes Away
"Some things just transcend sports."
stephanie gallman jordan
Fri, Feb 21, 2025, 6:04 PM EST·1 min read
Before the game started, Belyeu ran into the outfield, dropped to his knees and removed his hat, offering a prayer to his mom Staci.
It was an emotional opening night for Auburn University outfielder Cade Belyeu, who took the field and later hit a home run just hours after losing his mother to cancer.
Belyeu's mother Staci passed away the morning of February 14, the same day the Tigers were scheduled to take on Holy Cross in the season opener.
Auburn Coach Butch Thompson spoke to Belyeu following the news and the sophomore said his mom - who loved watching her boys play sports - would've wanted him to play.
So with a heavy heart, he did.
Then, in the 6th inning, he walked up to bat and drilled the ball into right center field for a solo home run.
Belyeu pumped his fist as he rounded the bases and was welcomed to home plate by his teammates all on their feet applauding.
Thompson called the moment "one of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years," as he presented Belyeu with the game ball.
"Some things just transcend sports," Auburn Baseball posted on Instagram with a clip of the home run.
Auburn went on to win the game 4-1, but Thompson said the team's victory shouldn't be the focus.
"That is the story line of this ball game, regardless of outcome or result," Coach Thompson said.
"It was pretty incredible."
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/auburn-baseball-player-hits-home-230426578.html#:~:text=It%20was%20an%20emotional%20opening,Cross%20in%20the%20season%20opener.
Rickey Henderson used to do it always.
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And old photographs that Mamas bring,
Of Daddies with their young boys, playing ball.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7/TNOTW.htm
Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way i feel.
Chorus:
Oh, put me in, coach - i'm ready to play today;
Put me in, coach - i'm ready to play today;
Look at me, i can be centerfield.
Well, i spent some time in the mudville nine, watchin' it from the bench;
You know i took some lumps when the mighty casey struck out.
So say hey willie, tell ty cobb and joe dimaggio;
Don't say "it ain't so", you know the time is now.
Chorus
Yeah! i got it, i got it!
Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know i think it's time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) it's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!
John Fogerty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raSJDLv-Wpg&feature=related
Field of Dreams (1989)
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray.
It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.
Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
--Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU3a1PDtTYk
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