The Yankees’ relationship with Spencer Jones goes back further than many realize

BOSTON – Spencer Jones was drafted by the Yankees in the first round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Vanderbilt.

His history with the franchise goes back to when he played with the organization’s scout team near his home in Southern California when he was 16 years old.

That’s when local scout Dave Keith discovered the already tall Jones and asked his high school coach and family to wear the aprons for the first time.

“It was fun,” Jones said Friday at Fenway Park before going 1-for-3 in the Yankees’ 6-1 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

And he credited Keith for giving him valuable advice.

“He liked me more as a hitter than anything else,” said Jones, who arrived as a two-hitter and impressed many scouts as a hard-throwing lefty on the mound.

“It’s nice to look back. Everyone wanted me as a pitcher. He told me to keep the bat in my hands. It worked.”

Keith was at Fenway on Thursday to watch his old player and was happy to see him with a bat in his hands.

“He’s a big guy and a lefty, so keep it simple,” Keith said of his thought process at the time. “Let him hit. In addition, he always wanted to be on the field. He always wanted to play.”

Tommy John surgery in college helped Jones become a full-time quarterback and on Friday, he started against Boston lefty Payton Tolle.

Even if the Yankees didn’t draft Jones out of La Costa Canyon HS in Carlsbad, Calif. – the Dodgers made it in the 31st round before Jones chose to go to Vanderbilt – the relationship with the Bombers ended up paying dividends.

Jones looked his best at the plate in his second stint in the majors after appearing to be over the top during his time out of Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Jones and Keith — who scouted Gerrit Cole in high school when the Yankees drafted him before going to UCLA — continue to have a strong relationship, built nearly a decade ago.

“We had the best players in the area, playing other teams,” said Keith, who likened Jones to another Southern California player Keith watched nearly 10 years earlier in Freddie Freeman.

For Keith, both were lanky players in their youth who became powerful left-footers.

They both could hit, hit hard and run,” Keith said.

And they looked very much at home in the batter’s box.

Keith said: “Spencer is an athlete, so he can make the changes he needs to make to get better,” Keith said.” Like Freddie, he stepped into the box and his athleticism tripled. It’s great to see him come into his own here.”‘

Finally, it came full circle with the Yankees.

“It’s funny,” Jones said. “All signs led me to come here.”