After a rough 2024 season, New York Yankees prospect Spencer Jones is looking to turn the page. And in his first Grapefruit League game of 2025, he made a statement.
Jones crushed a two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays, showcasing the raw power that once made him one of the Yankees’ most exciting young talents.
“There aren’t a lot of guys who can hit a ball like that-that high off the hands,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Not a lot of people can do that.”
Jones showed flashes of his potential last spring but struggled in Double-A. He set a Yankees minor-league record with 200 strikeouts in just 122 games last season. Despite also hitting 17 home runs, driving in 78 runs, and swiping 25 bases, his sky-high strikeout rate caused his stock to plummet in prospect rankings.
Once ranked No. 2 in the Yankees’ farm system, Jones has dropped to No. 6 heading into 2025 and is no longer on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list.
When he was drafted in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft, Jones’ raw power and athleticism drew comparisons to Aaron Judge. At 6 feet 6 inches, the left-handed-hitting outfielder gave Yankees fans hope that he could be a future star in the Bronx.
Boone remains excited about Jones’ potential but acknowledges that development is key.
“If you can get to that level [of consistency], it’s a great advantage to have that size and that leverage and those levers,” Boone said. “With Spencer, the ceiling is enormous. It’s real defense. It’s real power. It’s real speed. 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.”
Jones is using his second MLB Spring Training as a learning experience, and Yankees captain Aaron Judge is his mentor.
“He’s, you know, an incredible hitter,” Jones said on the YES Network. “When I get into spring training, I have more questions, I think, now than I ever have before, as far as what he does and his drill work and those kinds of things. I’m excited to get to work with him this spring.”
