MESA, Ariz. — Turns out that Spencer Jones can crush homers in the Cactus League, too.
After a strong spring in the Grapefruit League, Jones made the trip west with the Yankees and put an exclamation point on his big league camp, belting a pair of home runs after coming off the bench in a 15-6 loss to the Cubs.
“Really good to see,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The homers, yes, but just the more consistent quality of the at-bat has been there, and that’s been noticeable all spring.”
Jones, who now has hit six home runs this spring, went deep against two members of the Cubs’ projected bullpen. Facing setup man Phil Maton in the seventh inning, Jones turned on a changeup and drilled it 372 feet to right field. Then he went the other way against Jacob Webb in the ninth inning, which came off the bat at 104.5 mph.
New York Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones #78, at bat in the 2nd inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The 24-year-old outfielder is set to start the season back at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (alongside Jasson Domínguez), where he played 67 games last year, now trying to keep cutting down on his strikeouts to put himself in a position to impact the big league club when it has a need.
“More competitive at-bats, game after game, whether there’s results or not,” Boone said. “Even in some where, ‘Man, it’s a tough matchup for him,’ he’s put together really good at-bats. He’s grown too.”
The Yankees were still trying Monday to finalize where Luis Gil will begin the season — either in the bullpen or the minor leagues after being the odd man out of their four-man rotation.
The club does not need a fifth starter until April 11, and Gil seems more likely to stay built up in the minors as opposed to piggybacking out of the bullpen, though Boone was not yet ready to commit to that Monday.
Hanging in the balance are the final bullpen spots, which could bump from two to three if Gil starts in the minors, with Cade Winquest, Brent Headrick, Jake Bird and Osvaldo Bido all still in contention.
Winquest, the Rule 5 pick, was the only one of those who pitched Monday, continuing his uneven spring as he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk across 1 ²/₃ innings.
A handful of Yankees veterans and pitchers flew to San Francisco on Monday night ahead of Wednesday’s Opening Day, while the rest of the team stayed back for one more exhibition against the Cubs on Tuesday. … Monday and Tuesday marked the Yankees’ first spring training games in Arizona since 1951, when they swapped spring training sites with the New York Giants. That year, the Yankees worked out in Phoenix while the Giants worked out in St. Petersburg, Fla.
