Spencer Jones went deep again Friday night against the Blue Jays, his 7th home run since getting the call up to the Bronx, and Yankees fans are done pretending this is a small sample size. The 6'7" outfielder, the Yankees' first-round pick out of Vanderbilt back in 2022 who's carried Aaron Judge comparisons since he was drafted, made his MLB debut on May 8 and has been forcing his way into the lineup ever since.
Jones rounds third and scores after his 7th homer of the season, with the on-screen graphic confirming the number as the Yankees go up 2-0 on the Blue Jays.
The timing matters. Cody Bellinger has been out since late July with a hamstring strain and is working his way back through a Triple-A rehab assignment, with New York expected to activate him within days. That return usually means a corresponding move off the 26-man roster, and the fan base has decided who that should be: Amed Rosario, not Spencer Jones.
Rosario, on a 1-year, $2.5 million deal, has reportedly struggled against lefties and drawn criticism for his defense this season, which is exactly why fans see him as expendable the moment the roster gets crowded. Eric Hubbs put it bluntly, saying he'd have a problem if the Yankees sent Jones back down to the minors instead of designating Rosario for assignment when Bellinger's back.
Marty Mush went further, arguing Jones should just keep starting every day even after Bellinger returns, homer or not. It's the kind of take that only gains steam when the guy in question is doing exactly what the lineup needs, night in and night out.
That's been the story lately, and not just with the power. Hubbs also pointed out Jones's approach the next night with the bat, moving runners over on a ground ball to the right side rather than trying to do too much, the kind of small-ball detail that wins over a coaching staff just as much as a homer does.
Productive outs from the bottom of the order with Spencer moving the runners on a ground out to the right side and then Cabby driving in George on the deep sac fly. Exactly what was needed, not trying to do too much.
The Yankees do get some breathing room here since rosters expand to 28 players on September 1, which could let them carry both Jones and Rosario without an immediate call. But that's a band-aid, not a resolution, and the pressure on the front office to pick a side only grows every time Jones does something like this. For a prospect who was expected to spend most of 2026 stuck behind Judge, Bellinger and Trent Grisham on the depth chart, forcing this conversation at all says plenty about how real his bat has become.