With Aaron Judge dealing with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side, the New York Yankees recently recalled their No. 6 prospect, Spencer Jones, and not only is he beginning to deliver, but he is also drawing comparisons to the three-time MVP.
Jones, the Yankees' first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, was called up for his major league debut in May but was sent back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after just 10 games. When Judge went down with the injury on June 5, the 25-year-old received another opportunity and is now making the most of it.
His breakout moment came in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. In the second inning, Jones launched the first home run of his major league career, sending a Slade Cecconi cutter soaring 443 feet beyond the center-field wall with an exit velocity of 112.2 mph, providing a glimpse of the power that has made him one of the Yankees' top prospects.
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The home run was so impressive that infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. thought it was Judge at the plate.
"That was sick," he said, via Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “Being on base, I thought it was Aaron Judge hitting when he hit that ball. It blasted off the bat, I’m not gonna lie.”
Jones, meanwhile, was elated to get the "proverbial monkey" off his back and said he planned to keep the ball in a small ziplock bag before having one of the veteran players inscribe it. Like Chisholm, who drove in the winning run in the eighth inning, manager Aaron Boone was equally impressed by the blast.
"That's a line drive to center for most people," Boone said. "The thing is, he hits it, and you kind of know where it's going just because you know the kind of power he has."
The contrast between Jones' first and second stints in the majors has been striking. During his first 10 games, he went 4-for-24 with no extra-base hits. However, in the four games since being recalled to help fill the void left by Judge, he has gone 6-for-12 with a double and a home run, raising his season totals to a .278 batting average, one home run, five RBIs, and one stolen base.
After hitting his first major league home run, Jones could be poised to build some momentum offensively. With Judge expected to miss at least a month, the Vanderbilt product has a chance to earn regular playing time and potentially make a case for a spot in the Yankees' lineup.
