Will Yankees top prospect Spencer Jones be hampered by his 6-6 frame?

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Spencer Jones, still considered by most to be the Yankees’ top position prospect, didn’t quite make the leap many in the organization thought he might last season.

Far from a disappointment, the 6-6, 235-pound outfielder hit .259 with 17 homers, 30 doubles and a .789 OPS in 122 games with Double-A Somerset. The club’s 2022 first-round pick (25th overall) out of Vanderbilt, struck out 200 times in 482 at-bats.

As the 6-11 Hall of Famer Randy Johnson once said: “It’s not a tall man’s game.” That's because of all the moving parts involved, whether it be for a hitter or a pitcher.

Still, there have been plenty of exceptions, with a player Jones drew comparisons to in college, the 6-7 Aaron Judge, among them (going way back, Frank Howard would be another, as would Dave Winfield).

“We’ve seen in the history of the game, there’s a number of great big players, but you don’t see it a ton,” manager Aaron Boone said on Saturday before the Yankees' 6-4 Grapefruit League loss to the Blue Jays. “So I think it is probably a longer learning curve, especially hitting, especially with how hard hitting is now, too. Like really dialing in and honing your mechanics.

"The thing with Spencer is the ceiling is enormous, because it’s real defense, it’s real power, it’s real speed. It looks like he has the ability to control the strike zone, but it’s just going to be harnessing that size a little bit and that swing. So, we’ll see. He’s obviously going to have that runway to figure that out and hopefully he can continue to make those necessary adjustments that allow him to reach that ceiling.”

The lefty-hitting Jones, who crushed a 470-foot home run last spring in his first exhibition game with the big-league club, hit a two-run opposite-field homer in his 2024 spring debut on Saturday.

“Not a lot of guys hit a ball like that,” Boone said.

Rodon gets his work in

Lefthander Carlos Rodon, who had a solid bounce-back season in 2024 (16-9 with a 3.96 ERA) after a disastrous first season with the club in 2023 (3-8 with a 6.85 ERA), said that Yankees fans haven’t yet seen his best.

“No [they haven’t],” Rodon said after striking out one and allowing three runs, five hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings in Saturday's 48-pitch outing. “I set a high standard for myself. I know I can be better.

"I pitched well last year but I wouldn’t be the player I am if I didn’t think I could be better than last year and in years past. Obviously, there’s a lot of variables that go into that, but I know what I’m capable of and I really want to show that. I want to show the reason the Yankees signed me.”

Rodon is entering the third year of a 6-year, $162 million deal.

Mattingly indifferent on facial hair 

Don Mattingly, a former Yankees captain who famously was benched and fined for not trimming his scalp hair, all but shrugged his shoulders over Friday’s news that the franchise would now allow beards.

“Time’s change,” said Mattingly, who is in his second year as the Blue Jays bench coach. “I don’t think it’s really a big deal at all.”

Lots of the hot corner for Cabrera

Oswaldo Cabrera, who is in competition with DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza to be the club’s everyday third baseman, got the start at third on Saturday. Boone said he plans to give Cabrera, who has turned himself into a utility player in recent years, time this spring across the infield and some work in the outfield as well. But the “bulk” of his action will be at third.