Yankees captain Aaron Judge talked about Spencer Jones after Saturday's spring training game.
Center fielder prospect Spencer Jones homered in the Yankees' spring training home opener on Saturday, a 20-3 win over the Tigers.The captain mentioned Jones’ new batting stance, his footwork change, the swing, switches that somewhat resemble the hitting style of baseball’s other reigning MVP, Judge really enjoyed the result, too, a second-inning leadoff a homer.
Jones was thrown a 2-1, above-the-belt , 95-mph fastball from righty Keider Montero and rocketed it way over the right-field wall, a 408 footer. The Yankees captain is a Spencer Jones fan, and not just because they’re both 6-foot-7 and hit a lot of home runs, albeit from different sides of the plate. Judge keeps close tabs on a lot of the Yankees prospects that he sees in spring training, especially hitters with Jones’ ability. He’s even passed along spring training hitting tips to Jones, a left-handed hitter who mixed a lot of strikeouts into his 2025 season along with 35 homers and 29 stolen bases playing Double-A and Triple-A ball. Judge had a great spring training debut Saturday, 2-for-3 with two homers playing four innings of right field, but he seemed to enjoy Jones’ dinger more. When Judge was asked what he’s seeing from Jones, he answered sounding like James Rowson, the Yankees’ hitting coach. “I think the biggest thing that I noticed swing wise is he’s just ready to hit,” Judge said. “When he puts that foot down, he’s ready to hit. Maybe they might have got him with a lot of high heaters in the past, or even last season, but is going to help him. “He doesn’t have the big leg kick. He doesn’t have to worry about getting that down. It’s like, ‘Hey, the foot’s down.’ He’s ready to go from the very beginning. “I like the results I saw with his first at-bat. He gets a heater there and drives it out of the park. So that quickness, that readiness I think is really going to be a game changer.”This year he’s hoping his impression leads to an MLB debut at some point this season. That’s not impossible. The Yankees still are very high on Jones, a 2019 first-round draft pick out of Vanderbilt. What everyone is looking for this season, Jones included, is less swing-and-miss. His 179 strikeouts in 506 at-bats last season calculates to a very high 35.4 K percentage. Jones has been changing his stance throughout his time in the Yankees’ farm system searching for more contact without sacrificing power. He used an open stance with his hands low in 2024 and a Judge-like leg kick with his hands raised in 2025.“Yeah, the way they move,” Boone said. “ is trying to have one complete move with . Obviously, his size is very similar , so hopefully he can copy that well.”“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I’m trying to get some good feels with the hands. Get those going.”Judge is mentor, too, to watch and ask questions. “Oh absolutely,” Jones said. “He’s captain for a reason. He’s looking out for everybody. He’s definitely helped me, especially so far this camp. It’s just little things here and there. You’re just asking questions and he’s always open for a conversation.”Randy is a native of Jeannette, Pa., a city 25 miles east of Pittsburgh, and has been writing about sports since age 15 when he was covering high schools and Pitt football for the Jeannette News-Dispatch. Since...
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