Yankees’ Brass Requests Patience Amid Top Prospect’s Success

This Yankees' exciting top prospect will likely need to wait a while longer before making his big-league debut.

Mar 4, 2024; Jupiter, Florida, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Spencer jones (78) hits a single against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Spencer Jones is one of the New York Yankees’ biggest prospects since AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge.

Literally. 

Standing at 6-foot-6 inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, Jones, who is the Yankees’ No. 2 ranked prospect, has been compared to the 2022 AL MVP since New York selected him with the 25th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. 

Jones was named to the All-Star Futures Game on Tuesday. One day prior, he earned  Eastern League Player of the Week honors after slashing .333/.345/.815 with three home runs and four doubles with the Double-A Somerset Patriots. 

Despite Jones tearing it up as of late, Yankees’ vice president of player development Kevin Reese believes the wise move would be to exercise patience and not the 23-year-old's path to the big-leagues in similarity to how Judge's ascent was handled. 

“If anything, the lesson to be learned [with Judge] is patience,” Reese said when asked about the similarities between Jones and Judge, according to Dan Martin of The New York Post. 

“Aaron did some things that made him the player that he is. It helped that he was gifted, but he worked his butt off and wasn’t afraid to take some risks along the way in his development. That’s probably the biggest takeaway. The story is never fully written. The development process never really ends,” Reese added.

Judge, who was also a late first-round draft pick for the Yankees, burst onto the scene in 2017 when he was 25-years-old. 

Jones will not turn 25 until May of 2026.

“The exciting thing about Spencer is, he has days where he gets four hits and hits moonshots and steals bases, but we talk a lot in the organization about [Dellin] Betances [and] Aaron Judge and how bigger bodies take a little bit of time to grow into themselves,’’ Reese said. 

“Spencer is super-athletic, but he’s got some things he still needs to work on, and I don’t think anyone thought there wouldn’t be any speed bumps along the way. He’s pretty much on schedule for us.”

One of the biggest knocks on Judge during his younger days was his high strikeout rate. And while Jones’ 18 stolen bases (fourth-most in the Eastern League) and 46 RBIs (fifth-most) this season are impressive, he also leads the league with 107 strikeouts. 

Jones seems destined for a successful MLB career. But fans will likely need to wait a while longer before he’s in pinstripes.