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Yankees' Big Prospect Spencer Jones Wants Aaron Judge to Help Him

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kristie Ackert | Last updated Jan 15, 2025 3:00 PM ET

After a disappointing season, New York Yankees' prospect Spencer Jones hopes slugger Aaron Judge can help him get back on track.

"He's, you know, an incredible hitter. … 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," Jones said on the YES Network. "I'm excited to get to work with him this spring."

Jones drew comparisons to the Yankees captain last spring with his similar size and power, and had the Yankees excited with his performance in the Spring Breakout Game. But then he went on and had a rough year in the minors. He set a franchise record for strikeouts in a season, the first Yankee minor leaguer to be punched out 200 times.

Jones knows that has to change if he is ever going to live up to the hype. On the "Yankees Hot Stove" show, he said he is focused on his approach this winter.

"The ultimate goal for me was finding out what that approach is going to be at the end of the day I felt most successful with," Jones said. "A lot of the stuff I've been doing this off-season swing-wise is putting myself in a position to swing the bat whenever I want. The issue I was running into a lot last year was when I told myself it was time to swing; my body wasn't in the position to swing, so I was just missing the ball."

Spencer Jones is looking forward to talking with a certain slugger of similar size come Spring Training! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/iPXry8QyYZ
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) January 15, 2025

In Double-A this past season, Jones, 23, struck out 200 times in 544 plate appearances (nearly 37.%) last year. He slashed .259/,336/.453 with 17 homers, 78 RBIs and 25 steals, which is still a productive season despite the wild strikeout rate.

Baseball America dropped Jones from the Yankees' second-best prospect to sixth this winter.

Jones jumped onto the Yankees fans' radar last spring when he won the team's award for the most outstanding rookie in major league camp. In 12 spring games, the outfielder hit .444/,565/.722 with two doubles, a homer and four RBI. In the MLB Spring Breakout Game, Jones went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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