FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Yankees are getting the full Spencer Jones experience early on this spring.
By and large — emphasis on the large — they will take it.
Jones homered Friday for the third time in four games, crushing a 427-foot shot off the batter’s eye in a 17-5 win over the Twins at Hammond Stadium.
“It’s always fun to hit ’em out of the yard,” Jones said. “But at the end of the day, as long as I’m taking swings at the pitches that I want to, as long as I’m seeing the ball well, that’s usually how I judge myself from day to day in games, being able to read pitches and make good decisions.”
The three home runs account for Jones’ three hits this spring, going 3-for-8 with four strikeouts and two walks.
When he grounded out in the second inning Friday, it marked the first out he had made this spring that was not via the strikeout.
The 6-foot-7, left-handed slugger has continued to tinker with his swing mechanics early in camp, trying to cut down on the strikeouts.
“There’s been a lot of conversations behind the scenes, working on some stuff, cleaning up the [bat] path and finding some cues and working with guys to learn,” Jones said. “You don’t really know what you got until you’re out there facing an arm.”
Back in Tampa, Gerrit Cole faced hitters for the second time in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, throwing 22 pitches against Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham.
Stanton remains in line to make his Grapefruit League debut in the coming days.
