Spencer Jones at center of outfield decisions Yankees face entering wild-card series

There are several Yankees roster questions whose answers will dictate the outfield alignment for the Game 1 lineup.Will Aaron Judge play? And if so, would he be mobile enough to play right field? How about Trent Grisham? Can Heliot Ramos be trusted in right field? The only certainty, really, is Cody Bellinger’s presence in left field.

But Spencer Jones has made a charge that gives him a strong argument to be 1) in center field and 2) in the middle of the lineup even against a strong lefty in Boston’s Payton Tolle. Among the more impressive, and surprising, aspects of Jones’ emergence is how he has done it: A mighty lefty slugger with a notorious whiffing problem in the minors has done the bulk of his major league damage against fellow lefties. An outlier of a talent, he has also been an outlier among young lefty hitters in slashing .389/.441/.667 in 59 plate appearances against southpaws. “I think we get a lot of times caught up in a smaller sample, but from my watching him, I feel like he’s been really impressive against left-handed [pitching],” manager Aaron Boone said during Monday’s workout day in The Bronx ahead of Tuesday’s wild-card series opener against the Red Sox.“It’s not just, ‘Yeah, he’s gotten hits,’ but he’s faced a lot of tough lefties and not only held his own but kind of thrived.”  Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.

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Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Many young lefty hitters require a platoon complement at least early in their careers.In explaining his success against lefty pitching, Jones mentioned conversations with other “really good left-handed hitters on this team,” with Bellinger among the best in the game at hitting lefty-on-lefty. “It’s just about I think making tight turns,” Jones said, “and b...