TAMPA — Yankees wunderkind Spencer Jones sent a long and loud message in his very first at-bat in big league camp, hitting a 470-foot homer off Tigers big league right-hander Morgan Englert at Joker Marchant Stadium.
The strike to right field was a bomb. The message to the Yankees was clear: You did right by not trading me.
There’s a lot to like about young Jones, so much so the Yankees declined to deal him for big league stars Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease or even his new Yankees teammate, the slugging superstar Juan Soto.
I can’t blame them. Not for a moment or two, which happens to be about how long it takes the speedy Jones to get down the first-base line.
Jones is a nice, polite kid working toward his Vanderbilt degree while learning here in camp from superstar Aaron Judge and other great veterans, but the thing that makes him stand apart are the tools. It’s the power (as we saw), but even more so, it’s the speed, which is shocking for someone within a few hairs of Judge’s height (he’s 6-foot-6).
He advertised the power, but it’s the speed they can’t get over. The center fielder was clocked at 11 seconds going home to third, bettered in the majors by just Corbin Carroll, Elly De La Cruz and Jose Siri, according to The Athletic. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton possess more power (those two have more than anyone this side of Shohei Ohtani). But it’s uncertain bordering on unlikely anyone here can keep up with Jones in a foot race.
“[He’s] obviously a big man, but he can fly. He can legit fly,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Jones is likely ticketed for Double-A, but ultimately, he’s seen as a future 30-30 big leaguer, which is why the Yankees didn’t flinch when his name was mentioned as the key piece in trade talks, as The Post first reported. The Padres/Soto trade rumor sparked particular interest from his buddies back home in Encinitas, Calif., 25 miles north of San Diego. His high school friends excitedly would relay every social media post speculating on trades to San Diego, but Jones, a calm sort who knew better, didn’t fret for a second.
His only reaction amounted to momentary flattery. Regarding the Yankees’ decision to keep him rather than trade him for a headline-grabbing quick fix, Jones summed it up the way an especially together 22-year-old would.
“It’s cool, man,” Jones said. “It’s cool to be held in that regard.”
While he’s on most prospect lists after hitting 16 home runs and stealing 43 bags between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, it’s strange that one of the more prominent, public compilations didn’t even place Jones among the top 100 in the majors. That service provided an explanation why he didn’t quite make the coveted list. But teams obviously have their own analytics, and in those Jones is viewed as a star in waiting.
The Yankees were able to land the slugging superstar Soto, by surrendering half their rotation depth, and he happens to locker about five feet from Jones here. Burnes went to the rival Orioles instead, and the White Sox held Cease, who still has two years to go and a better than even chance to improve his stock off his rough 2023 season.
Jones’ value can not be much higher at the moment, though he acknowledges he has things to work on, so much so that he writes notes to himself at to start and end each camp day. Being a Vandy man — he’s two semesters short of graduating, and working on it — he’s quite studious, and he’s open to all suggestions from Judge and the other greats here. “I’m all ears,” he said.
He was, like Judge, a late first round pick — No. 25 overall in the 2022 draft — and he appears to be quite the find as well. (The Yankees unfortunately pick late since they’ve posted winning records 32 straight seasons). To a man, scouts envision star potential even if journalists who compile the lists don’t quite see it.
“All-Star tools,” one scout says.
“From an athletic standpoint, off the charts in so many categories,” another says.
He’s close to the can’t miss category. But scouts do have some questions. Jones’ 155 strikeouts in 480 at-bats in 2023 are an issue. One National League scout says, “The power is real, but the swing and hand position need some adjustments.”
He also logged a slightly elevated groundball rate, and considering Yankee Stadium’s short porch, it’s understandable flyballs are the objective for the left-handed hitter with power potential. “The ultimate goal is to hit the ball in the air a little bit more this year,” he said.
Thanks to that otherworldly speed, to a man the scouts see him remaining in center, which is partly what makes him so valuable. He also has a big arm, so much so he was a two-way player at Vanderbilt. It’s the bat that will ultimately determine how big a star he becomes, but signs are increasingly positive, headlined by his monster bomb Saturday. Forget the prospect rankings. The Yankees obviously are believers, and so apparently are many other big-league clubs.