The New York Yankees have a 6-foot-7 outfielder in their system who could be a game-changer if he can just make contact with the baseball.
Spencer Jones represents everything you want in a prospect – and everything that keeps scouts up at night. He’s got the size, the athleticism, and the raw power that makes front office executives dream about October heroics.
He’s also struck out 534 times in 357 minor league games over the past three years.
The Yankees already have plenty of pop at the big league level with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice. But Jones might have more raw power than any of them – if he can figure out how to use it.
That’s the question hanging over this season. Team officials are fascinated to see how close the lefty-swinging outfielder is to making an impact at the major league level, and sources believe that could happen at some point this year.
It’s why Jones made Mark Gonzalez’s list of one player to watch from each team this spring, despite not even cracking top-100 prospect lists this season.
“Jones has struck out a whopping 534 times in 357 minor league games over the past three years, but he moves well, hits the ball incredibly hard and possesses a plus arm. One Yankees source described him as having ‘a wide variance to his game,’ which is a polite way of saying he needs to cut down his strikeouts so that his power can truly emerge. This is a crucial year for him.”
That “wide variance” explains why Jones remains such a divisive prospect. The physical tools are undeniable – you don’t see many 6-foot-7 athletes who can cover ground in the outfield and turn on a fastball like he can.
But the strikeouts tell a different story. In an organization that’s seen Judge work through some of the same size-related challenges, there’s hope that Jones can follow a similar path. The difference? Judge never whiffed quite this much as a prospect.
Jones faces a positional logjam at the major league level, which gives him time to work on his approach. But it also means the clock’s ticking on proving he belongs.
The Yankees know what they have if everything clicks. A 6-foot-7 lefty bat with plus power and a strong arm could change their lineup dynamics in a hurry.
The question isn’t whether Jones can hit the ball hard – he’s already proven that. It’s whether he can hit it often enough to matter when games count.
