Yankees Have No Reason to Panic Over Spencer Jones... Yet

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)

I've seen a lot of talk on social media about Spencer Jones and the New York Yankees, much of it negative.

Jones is a somewhat polarizing prospect due to the swing-and-miss nature of his game, though it's not as surprising as some make it seem. He's a big guy who's trying to leave the yard at any moment, and with strikeouts being as prevalent as they ever are, it's going to happen.

Factor in that he faced one of the best arms in baseball, and at least one of the hardest throwers in the game, and it wasn't too surprising to see him struggle a bit in his debut. When speaking to reporters after the game, he even admitted that these were the hardest pitches he's ever seen in his life, which has caused a stir on social media about whether he's ready or not to play at this level.

“I’ve never seen pitches that hard in my life, and to be able to foul off a couple’s pretty great, so I'll take that for now,” Jones said of Jacob Misiorowski at American Family Field, per the Milwaukee Journal.

I want to remind people that the Milwaukee Brewers' young right-hander was absolutely dominating against the entire Yankees lineup, so there isn't really much that should be said about Jones specifically. Of course, I understand the concerns about him long-term, but this doesn't feel like a game to get too upset with him about.

Hitting at this level is ridiculously hard, and even if he were the best prospect baseball has ever seen, there are always going to be some struggles at the highest level.

“Obviously it was good he got a lead and was able to get after it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It's that kind of lower slot that he has and then he gets the extension, almost more so than the velocity [that is the biggest challenge].

“I thought there were a couple times where we were getting some good at-bats against him and controlling the zone a little bit there. But he had that big lead and got after it pretty good.”