CLEARWATER, Fla. — Spencer Jones was optioned to minor league camp Monday.
Tuesday, he was back in the Yankees lineup and showed again why the organization remains high on the 6-foot-7 outfielder with immense power — and immense strikeout totals.
The 24-year-old went deep for the fourth time this spring in a 4-2 win over the Phillies at BayCare Ballpark, a 416-foot opposite-field shot to left-center.
He’s been among the more impressive hitters and gotten greater exposure thanks to the departure of teammates who are participating in the WBC — an opportunity Jones didn’t want to waste.
“Probably the biggest thing out of this year is I feel like I belong and can compete and do whatever I can to help the team win,’’ Jones said prior to the game.
Still, he was disappointed in getting the news Monday about being moved to minor league camp, even as it was anticipated because he’s behind Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Randal Grichuk, as well as Jasson Domínguez, on the depth chart.
“You never want to hear it, but it is what it is,’’ Jones said of getting the minor league news. “I’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ve got a whole, long season ahead of us. Opportunities are available, and it’s just about taking advantage of them.”
There are some scouts who believe Jones could be ready for the majors at some point later this season.
Barring an injury to one — or more — of the aforementioned outfielders, Jones appears unlikely to find himself in that position with the Yankees.
“I don’t think about what could be,” Jones said. “It’s more about ‘What do we have right now?’ and focusing on the day-to-day.”
He and the Yankees are encouraged by the adjustments Jones made last season and through the winter.
“I told him there are things out of your control,’’ Aaron Boone said. “As best you can, focus on the improvements he needs to make in this game and the good thing is he’s done that.
“The reality is he’s pushing through right now, knocking on that door [to the majors]. You just have to take care of your business and force us into a decision.”
And Jones knows that cutting down on strikeouts — and simply making more contact — is the key to advancing in his career.
He’s also taken a few aspects of perhaps the best left-handed swing on the planet — Shohei Ohtani’s — and incorporated them into his approach. That’s helped Jones, he said, “feel very still, very stable, being on time and swinging at the right pitches.”
The next step, almost certainly alongside Domínguez at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, will be trying to become less prone to slumps.
“Last year was great [and] a personal success with competing and being one of the better players in [the International] League,’’ Jones said. “Now it’s about repeating that, being who I am and consistency.”
