Spencer Jones has heard the trade rumors. He’s laughed at them and even played through of them.
But Jones wants to continue his journey with the New York Yankees and reach the majors in pinstripes, even though those things are not necessarily in his control.
The Yankees are 10 games over .500 yet trail the first-place Toronto Blue Jays by four games in the American League East.
What Did Spencer Jones Say About Yankees Trade Rumors?
Jones, the first round pick of the Yankees in 2022 who has torn up Triple-A since he was called up June 26. Jones already has 10 home runs in just 79 plate appearances over 16 games for Scranton/Wilkes Barre of the International League and is slashing .426/.481/.941 with 20 RBIs and 23 runs scored in Triple-A.
All that, along with his pedigree as the No. 2 prospect in New York’s system and the club’s loaded outfield — keyed by reigning MVP Aaron Judge, off-season trade acquisition Cody Bellinger, former elite prospect Jasson Dominugez and the team’s No. 2 home run contributor Trent Grisham — have left Jones in the cross-hairs of trade rumors.
“I was just talking to my girlfriend about this, but at the end of the day, I want to play in New York and be a part of this organization and stay loyal to it,” Jones told The Athletic recently. “Thatâs a big part of who I am and where I want to go in my career.”
Of course, Yankees fans are an impatient lot, and they understand the team inside and out. They are pining for the club to fill their black hole at third base with Arizona Diamondbacks veteran slugging third baseman Eugenio Suarez — and have publicly rooted for Jones to go west to get him.
“There was a post of me hitting a home run and one of the comments was, âGet ready to speak desert, buddy,ââ Jones said. “Thatâs a really good one. I saw that and was dying laughing. That is just so good. To me, thatâs the really fun part about baseball at this time of year.
“I really like the creativity that fans have. Itâs awesome. I donât know if I can speak desert.”
How Has Spencer Jones Gotten So Good?
At 6-7, Jones has had a hard time with a long swing, which is part of why he has a career strikeout rate of 31.6 over his minor-league tenure.
But Jones has been working on shortening his swing, which he credits to his success.
âWe worked really hard to add steepness to my path to a point where I was doing it to a fault in the beginning of the year and at the end of spring, I had one of the steepest swings in the league,â Jones said. âThroughout the year, the tinkering has been to re-flatten it because the swing was so steep. Thereâs going to be a natural arc to the swing.
“Iâve been focused on flattening the path to let those fly balls I hit to left field have a little more carry or the line drives to right get a little more backspin. Itâs a delicate balance.”
Jones also credits an adjustment to his batting stance for his breakout season. Aside from his dumbfounding 1.422 OPS in Triple-A, Jones also boasted a robust .984 OPS and 16 homers in 208 plate appearances in Double-A Somerset.
“In spring, there were issues with my ability to recognize pitches and make a decision right away,” Jones said. “Where Iâm at now … I kind of just move my body, let myself see the pitch and let my body swing. Thatâs where itâs been. I am glad to have been able to produce the results I have.”
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