Spencer Jones
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00:00It's been a good start to August for you, Spencer, just, you know, throughout the season as you've been kind of trying to develop and make subtle improvements, where do you feel like you're at now in August as far as just the way you're playing?
00:10I feel good this month, you know what I mean? It's been a lot of conversations with teammates and with coaches and whatever, just trying to get me back to, you know, hitting the ball hard and doing my best to recognize pitches and do that as well as possible.
00:21So, just trying to keep things simple, play baseball.
00:23Yeah, I mean, the one thing I've noticed this year, obviously, is you're, you know, striking out a little higher rate than you were last year.
00:27You've been in LA for about a whole year now. Do you feel like the strikeouts you've been having is more of a mental thing that you're trying to correct?
00:35Or is there something mechanically with your swing that you've been working on to try to cut down on that?
00:40You know, hitting is, you know, hitting is hard to describe, right?
00:43So, it's like, you know, certain days it might be one thing. You might be getting pitched really well.
00:46Other days you might, you know, not be getting to the pitch that you need to be getting to.
00:49And I feel like it's a combination of both where it was uncertain days I should be making better swings than I was and I was missing certain balls.
00:55And other days I was just getting pitched well. So, I'm not really thinking too much about what's happened in the past.
00:59We're so focused on, all right, how can we prevent that in the future?
01:02Yeah, I mean, just the overall numbers you've had in AA for the last year or so, are you, like, frustrated at all by it?
01:07Or how have you kind of processed just the results so far?
01:11I haven't looked at my numbers so far, like, as a total since I've been in AA.
01:16It's more so focused on knowing that I'm not, you know, a finished product yet and I'm still developing.
01:21But it does come to refining swing decisions. What does that process look like for you?
01:26Is that traject in the cage? Is that actual in-game work? Like, what does that look like for you?
01:30Yeah, it's just, you know, staying committed to approach and doing those things well, you know, at a high level.
01:35And I think a lot of it comes with having a still head in the batter's box and, you know, being committed to what you want to do.
01:40I know kind of a new stance, a new swing for you, too. It's been talked about a lot this year, kind of moving the hands down a little bit.
01:45Is that still an adjustment process, too, or do you feel pretty comfortable with where that's at?
01:49I'm feeling pretty comfortable with my swing right now.
01:52You're facing the only plane today. You were once a two-way player. I know that was 2018, maybe, was the last time you threw up a mound.
02:02What made you make the decision to give up one side over the other?
02:07It was pretty clear-cut for me. I got a couple elbow surgeries back-to-back that were keeping me off the field from, you know, even hitting in general.
02:15And I just felt like, for me, pitching, you know, it was fun. I wasn't very good at it, in my own opinion.
02:20I just wanted to hit. I wanted to be out there every day and just to play.
02:23So after the second surgery, I was just like, all right, let's go play outfield as much fun as possible.
02:28Is there any regrets there? Like, do you wish that that's something that would have worked out?
02:31Or are you happy with the decision you made to just stick to hitting?
02:34I'm happy with the decision I made.
02:35And in terms of watching a player like Shohei Otani, let's say, who's, you know, exceeded on both sides of the ball,
02:44like, how impressive is that for someone who's done it in the past and had to give up one over the other?
02:51I mean, I couldn't imagine doing both in professional baseball.
02:54Anybody who has or, you know, you know, Nolan on the other side who did for, you know, this season,
03:00like, that's incredible just to think about the workload, think about, you know, being able to separate the two
03:04and then also perform at a high level.
03:06So I think, you know, I think everybody as a baseball fan, it might be, yeah, I mean, you guys can appreciate how great he is.
03:13But actually being on the field and seeing, you know, what it would take to actually do that is mind-boggling.
03:17So you received the Player of the Week honors for the second time in the last few weeks from the league.
03:23I know you said hitting is, you know, very strange thing and you're still not a finished product.
03:28But for you, what does that mean for you when the league is recognizing you now for the second time for, you know,
03:34your offensive prowess and also defensive prowess?
03:37I don't really take too much stock into it.
03:39I mean, it's cool to get the recognition at the end of the day.
03:42You know, guys like to joke about it and do whatever.
03:44But, I mean, it's cool, it's fun, but, you know, we're on to the next week.
03:49Trade deadline, we're through that.
03:50I know your name gets thrown around, you didn't get tagged in social media and stuff like that.
03:54Was it kind of, would you pay attention to that?
03:55Was it weird to kind of see your name kind of tossed around some of that stuff at all?
04:01I mean, you know, I heard my name getting thrown around and stuff, but I wouldn't really think too much about it
04:06because we still had games to play and, you know, those things are out of your control as a player.
04:10So, you know, teammates like to joke and do this, that, whatever.
04:13My friends like to text me and ask me if I'm going to get traded.
04:15And, you know, at the end of the day, you know, they know as much as I do.
04:18So, we're just going to go out there and play and do our best.
04:21What goes into sharpening your skills, playing for a premium position like center field
04:25and playing at the level that you play it at?
04:28It's just about consistency.
04:29It's about, you know, getting reps every single day and, you know, staying on the field as much as possible.
04:33So, whether that be in pre-work and defense and batting practice, all that stuff,
04:37it's just about being out there and getting reps to get better.
04:39So, you have an 877 OPS your last 52 games.
04:43Do you feel like your early season struggles are something that you can build off of
04:46to help you become a better player down the road?
04:49Definitely.
04:49I think that's one of those things where, you know, you can't figure those things out for yourself
04:54unless you go through certain struggles.
04:56And, you know, me as a player, obviously, struggles are going to happen.
04:59Hard times are going to come.
05:00But it's about how you bounce back, not how you, you know, act in that moment.
05:03And then, I know that this is a little bit of a more obscure question,
05:06but every Yankee player is first at Yankee Stadium.
05:09One of the big questions is, what would their response be to a roll call?
05:12If you were to play for the Yankees tomorrow at Yankee Stadium, do you have one ready?
05:16No, I don't have one ready.
05:18I think I'd have to workshop that one with some of the guys,
05:20and maybe they'll play a joke on me.
05:22I don't know, but we'll figure something out.
05:23Sounds good.
05:24Spencer, in terms of the AA Subway Series, I know the major leaguers take it really seriously.
05:28Is that rivalry in your head, or you're kind of just out there, just another game at the ballpark?
05:32What's really, what goes through your mind in this series like this?
05:34You know, I think it's fun when you're playing teams that have a relationship with the big league club, right?
05:39So it's, you know, playing these guys, playing against Portland with the Red Sox.
05:43It's like, you know, those are teams we really like to compete against.
05:46And, you know, the goal eventually is to, you know, play them in the Subway Series
05:49or play them, you know, at Fenway Park or wherever.
05:52So it's just cool to, you know, build a relationship now playing against those guys
05:56and then, you know, excited to think, you know, what it would be like in the future
05:59playing against those guys in those stages.
06:01What's your relationship with Kevin Parada?
06:02Just take me through, like, when you first met and how you guys have kind of maybe stuck in touch.
06:07Okay, yeah.
06:07So Kevin and I, we're with the same agency, so we're connected that way.
06:11And we, he's from California as well, but we didn't really know each other growing up.
06:16It wasn't until college we played against each other a couple times.
06:19I just want to say I met him, I met him, like, the day after the draft.
06:23We did some all-star party up in L.A. and ran into him there, got to talking.
06:29You know, he's a great kid.
06:30And then being able to play against him last year in Brooklyn,
06:32and then now here this year has been pretty fun.
06:34The ball on last Wednesday, was that going over the wall off the bat of Fabian,
06:38or was that, like, just in front of the wall, so you robbed an extra base hitter at home?
06:42You know, I have no idea.
06:43The same thing with the other day with Marcello.
06:46I was like, I don't know where that ball was going out or not.
06:48I was just going to jump and catch it, so, yeah.
06:51Obviously, there's a lot of pressure going up in the Yankees system, like, just New York,
06:55a lot more than other systems.
06:56Does that, you know, motivate you a little bit more,
06:58would make it more sweeter to get up to the big leagues
07:00with an organization that puts so much pressure on prospects?
07:05You know, I don't know.
07:06I think for me it's just I can understand how, you know,
07:11maybe playing for the Yankees might not be for everyone, right?
07:13But in my mind, that's the pinnacle of professional baseball
07:16is playing for the Yankees someday.
07:17Like, you know, that's, you know, the best team with the best history
07:20and the biggest market.
07:20Like, that's the dream for, you know,
07:22the majority of baseball players out there.
07:24So, for me, it's like I'm going to take it one day at a time,
07:26and the goal is to get to, you know, play for the Yankees,
07:28which is a very historic franchise.