Coming out of the minor-league gate, all Yankees eyes were on Spencer Jones, the über talented outfielder who stole the show at spring training this year in much the same way Jasson Dominguez did last season.

Did Jones have a similar chance to earn a September promotion to the bigs, if everything clicked? The odds were against him. He had plenty left to work on (reducing K rate, changing his approach to lift the ball more), and besides, Dominguez was only promoted because the big-league Yankees had faltered so hard. Jones’ already minute chances were immediately reduced when he missed the season’s first few games with what was determined to be a stiff neck; again, every rep lost could be crucial, especially for him.

Luckily, Jones returned and immediately quieted every worry about the effects of missing action; in his first week ball this season, he’s torched Double-A with a pair of long home runs and a .423 average.

Of course, he’s not just homering (though he is, uh, doing that and hitting them very far). As laid out nicely by Fireside Yankees, he’s cut down his K rate significantly in the first week of action, just as he did in spring training (20.7% in 2024 after a 29% mark last season). He’s also posted a patently absurd wRC+ of 227.

Sustainable? Of course not! An encouraging place to start, especially after opening the season on the shelf? Hard to imagine anything more encouraging! Maybe if he’d picked up a baseball and thrown seven shutout innings to go with it.