Player of the Week Spotlight: Yankees' Jones

Confidence is a buzzword for Spencer Jones, and for good reason. The 6-foot-6 outfielder is fresh off a week where he walloped three big flies and four doubles to close out a scorching June.

The week, which culminated in a .333/.345/.815 slash line, earned Jones MiLB Player of the Week honors in the Eastern League and raised his OPS 48 points.

So, what’s the secret to his success? It all comes back to that word: confidence.

“A lot of it is confidence,” Jones told Robert Flores, Lauren Shehadi, Mark DeRosa and Sean Casey on MLB Network’s “MLB Central.” “You want to go up there and think that the guy up there doesn't have anything to get you out with and you're ready for your pitch, you're going to be on time for it, and you're going to crush anything that you see that you like in the zone.”

For the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect, that confidence started building back in March, when Jones won the James P. Dawson Award – given to the most outstanding Yankees rookie in Spring Training – after posting a .444/.583/.722 slash line in 13 games.

“I think a lot of it was I trusted my preparation from the offseason,” the Vanderbilt product told the “MLB Central” crew. “Then for me, it was just about tracking pitches, wanting to see them well and then taking advantage of the ones I liked in the zone.”

Jones’ preparation included an offseason swing adjustment in which he lowered his hands just under his shoulders, allowing him to get to pitches in every quadrant of the zone and increase his plater coverage.

“It was just to create a little bit more rhythm, create something a little bit more repeatable,” Jones told DeRosa and Casey. “That swing that I was using in college, it was kind of just a one plane swing and getting to only certain pitches. So, my goal was just to be more adjustable, be able to track different pitches in different spots.”

As with most adjustments, Jones’ change has had its kinks. After swatting two homers and hitting .320 in April, MLB’s No. 75 prospect struggled in May, delivering a .170/.282/.220 slash line. However, just like the weather, Jones heated back up in June and ended the month with a two homer, 7-RBI performance, the most of his career.

Thanks to his 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame, Jones has garnered plenty of comparisons to Aaron Judge, who also lowered his hands a few years into his professional career.

“I was always the tall kid growing up,” Jones said, while breaking down his swing in the skybox. “I'm sure at some point someone will dig up the Little League photos and I'm head-and-shoulders above all the other kids in the photo.

“It's always been a learning process of me getting everything stacked up on top of each other when I'm at the plate. When I was younger, I just prided myself on hand-eye coordination, being able to make a lot of contact and then as I've gotten older just trying to put a little bit more emphasis behind the strength piece of it and hitting the ball hard.”

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Alongside fellow towering outfielder James Wood (who stands at 6-foot-7), Jones will be competing in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game on July 13. It will be his second time competing in the event, which will be broadcast on MLB Network at 4 p.m. ET. Last year, Jones went 0-for-1 with a walk.

“It’s an honor,” Jones said. “It's one of those special events that you're definitely never going to take for granted. Anytime that you can be recognized to be out there with some of the best players in the game, it's something that you're going to really enjoy and want to take advantage of.”