Yankees farmhands Spencer Jones and Clayton Beeter were named to the American League’s 2023 Futures Game roster on Monday.
Jones, the Yankees’ first-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2022, is considered the organization’s third-best prospect by MLB.com. The 22-year-old thrived over a 25-game introduction to pro ball last season, and he is currently playing for High-A Hudson Valley.
A centerfielder, Jones is slashing .268/.327/.496 with 19 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, 36 RBI and 18 stolen bases over 60 games this season. He’s also struck out 91 times.
At 6-6 and 225 pounds, Jones has been physically compared to Aaron Judge, though no one is expecting the youngster to win an MVP award just yet. Jones’ swing also differs from Judge’s, as it comes from the left side of the plate.
“Jones features impressive strength and leverage,” per his MLB.com scouting report, “and he also generates plenty of bat speed and makes a lot of hard contact from the left side of the plate. His size does result in a naturally long left-handed swing that leads to strikeouts, and he uses the opposite field almost too much. Because he rarely turns on pitches, some scouts wonder if he’ll be able to handle quality velocity on the inner half as he rises through the minors.”
Beeter, meanwhile, is the Yankees’ 13th-best prospect. The Yankees acquired the righty in the trade that sent Joey Gallo to the Dodgers last summer.
The 24-year-old Beeter just earned a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after beginning his season with a dominant stretch at Double-A Somerset. There, Beeter recorded a 6-2 record and 2.08 ERA over 12 starts for the Patriots.
He allowed three earned runs with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings in his RailRiders debut on June 23.
“The Dodgers initially had Beeter shelve his slider to focus on his curveball,” per his scouting report, “but his mid-80s slide piece was his best pitch in 2022, a well above-average offering generating a 53 percent swing-and-miss rate thanks to its combination of velocity and two-plane depth. His fastball also can be dominant, sitting at 93-96 mph and reaching 98 mph with nice carry up in the zone, as well as some armside run. His low-80s downer curveball can be a plus pitch at times but isn’t as reliable as his slider, and his low-80s changeup has regressed because he barely uses it.”
The Futures Game will field plenty of other talented prospects besides Jones and Beeter. Notable names on the rosters include Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday, Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio, Boston’s Marcelo Mayer, Washington’s James Wood, Arizona’s Jordan Lawlar and the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Futures Game will be played at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on July 8. The seven-inning game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET and will air exclusively on SiriusXM and Peacock.
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