Spencer Jones certainly opened eyes during Yankees spring training last year.
In his very first at-bat of the spring, the 6-6 slugger pulverized a pitch from Detroit Tigers reliever Mason Englert, pulling it 470 feet in an impressive display of his left-handed power.
The long home run kicked off an encouraging spring for Jones, who went on to hit .444 with four RBI, five walks, a .722 slugging percentage and a 1.305 OPS over 23 plate appearances.
That strong Grapefruit League showing further fueled the hype around Jones, a five-tool outfielder whom the Yankees drafted No. 25 overall out of Vanderbilt in 2022.
But Jones failed to carry that momentum into the minor-league regular season.
Jones batted just .205 with two home runs and a .594 OPS over his first 37 games of 2024 with Double-A Somerset, a stretch that included 30 consecutive games without a homer.
He would ultimately rebound, batting .280 with 16 home runs and an .863 OPS over his final 88 games, but the slow start offered a reminder that development takes time, even for a prospect with as high of a ceiling as Jones.
“I think I grew up a lot towards the end of the season, as far as mentally, with my performance and the way things went,” Jones, 23, said on YES Network’s “Yankees Hot Stove” this week.
“Just handling the roller-coaster season that it was and growing through it, I think that I’m in a great spot now, especially with the training that I’m doing, to show up in spring training and give my best effort.”
MLB Pipeline ranks Jones as the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect, but he could soon slide into the top spot should the current No. 1, fellow outfielder Jasson Domínguez, graduate from prospect status and earn a full-time job with the MLB club.
Jones says he’s working hard this winter after finishing his second season in the Yankee system with 17 homers, a .788 OPS and 25 stolen bases.
“I’ve been working a bunch this offseason on some new patterns, some new drills, trying some [things] that I was doing in college when I was hitting the ball real hard, hitting the ball in the air,” Jones said.
“I feel like we’ve gotten to a point with my swing this offseason that I’m ready to share it a little bit and I’m excited for people to see it in the games.”
Despite a combined five years of collegiate and minor-league experience, Jones is not yet a candidate for the Yankees’ MLB roster.
“He’s got some development still to go, but it’s amazing, people with a talent like that, once it all clicks, it takes off rather quickly,” general manager Brian Cashman said last month.
“This past year wasn’t, I don’t think, what he was hoping for, but we’re patient.”
Bigger-bodied prospects can develop more slowly, added Cashman, who pointed to Dellin Betances and Aaron Judge as examples.
Jones has drawn comparisons to Judge, in particular, given his towering physique, collegiate experience and combination of power and athleticism. The Yankees drafted Judge out of Fresno State with a first-round pick in 2013.
“There’s definitely a lot to learn from him,” Jones said of Judge. “He’s an incredible hitter. He has been for over the last half-decade. It’s one of those things that, when I get into spring training, I have more questions now than I ever have before, as far as what he does and his drill work and those kinds of things.”