Yankees Prospect's Hot Streak Coming at Perfect Time

New York Yankees prospect Spencer Jones has remained on a hot streak throughout the entire season, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

The 24-year-old outfielder began the year with Double-A Somerset, marking his third go-around with the affiliate. With a new stance in tow, which has upped his fly ball percentage, Jones slashed .274/.389/.594 over 208 plate appearances with 16 homers before earning a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 26.

Jones hasn't missed a beat while sitting on the doorstep of the majors with the RailRiders, batting .426/.481/.941 with 10 home runs in just 79 trips to the plate.

Among minor leaguers with at least 200 plate appearances on the season, Jones' 1.106 OPS and 205 wRC+ both rank first while his 26 homers are tied for the top spot on the leaderboard.

The 2022 first-round's batted ball data backs up his surface-level stats as well. According to Prospect Savant, his expected batting average (.321), expected slugging percentage (.734), average exit velocity (113.4 mph) and hard hit rate (59.2%) at Triple-A all sit in the 96th percentile or higher.

Though Jones continues to whiff and chase at an exorbitant rate while struggling to make contact within the strike zone (74.79 percent in Triple-A), leading to a lofty strikeout percentage of 31.7, an anonymous American League scout told the New York Post's Joel Sherman that there's been a noticeable improvement in his plate approach this season.

“Still swinging hard and with that, still has significant swing and miss,” they said. “[But] his [two-strike] approach has improved some and he is walking more.” 

Given the concerns about Jones' swing-and-miss tendencies, some believe the Yankees should take advantage of his recent production and sell high on him, especially after he's launched homers in four of his past five games.

New York is in the market for substantial upgrades at third base and to its pitching staff before the July 31 trade deadline. The organization may hold Jones in high regards and believe that he could develop into a productive player for them in the majors, but they now also have the option of using him as a headliner in a move for an impact piece or two if they so choose.

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