Spencer Jones is viewed as a potential game-changing building block for the New York Yankees’ future, and he was only drafted back in 2022. The former first-round pick has been thrust upon the hype train ever since.
While it sounds nice, it definitely makes life harder for prospects attempting to tune out the noise and focus on their development. When you’re compared to former MVP Aaron Judge, it’s understandable why expectations might take an unrealistic leap.
Mar 2, 2024; Sarasota, Florida, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones (78) at Ed Smith / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
Heck, we’re surprised Jasson Dominguez has managed to get beyond the Mike Trout and Mickey Mantle parallels in the manner he has.
Perhaps Jones is on the same path, too, because he was recently asked about the Judge comps at Yankees camp. The former Vanderbilt star is 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, a towering presence that can roam the outfield with impressive range.
Judge, a tad bigger at 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, has made it easy for evaluators, insiders and media personalities to point out what we’d call “lazy” similarities. They’re both big, they hit for power, and they play the outfield! Would you look at that!
Jones hasn’t let him affect him, though. He’s focusing on becoming an original version of himself. Here’s what he told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:
“From the day you were drafted [as a first-round pick in 2022], people started calling you ‘a left-handed Aaron Judge.’ What do you think of that comparison?” Hoch asked.
“It’s a cool comparison, but ultimately I want to become my own player and do the things that I know I do well,” Jones replied. “Obviously Aaron is one of the best in the game, and it’s humbling to be compared in that regard, but I’m just going to try to learn from him as much as possible and then do what I do best, which is play.”
Yankees top prospect Spencer Jones is not Aaron Judge. He’s Spencer Jones.
Jones has had himself an impressive spring so far leading some to wonder if that’ll expedite his path to the big leagues. But not so fast. He just reached Double-A at the end of last season and still has work to do cutting back on his strikeouts and displaying consistent contact.
Remember, even Dominguez’s insane spring performance last year didn’t earn him a promotion until September. Jones is on the right trajectory, he just needs to harness his skills a bit more before the hype can become official.
There’s a reason, despite hitting over .400 with pop, that he was reassigned to minor-league camp on Tuesday afternoon after ripping an opposite-field double against the Mets.
Even Judge logged 63 Double-A games and 154 Triple-A games before sniffing MLB action. Maybe that’s the one comparison worth making as Jones trailblazes his own path.
