SAN DIEGO — Before the Yankees made their way out west, Spencer Jones eagerly anticipated the trip.

With series lined up against the Angels, the club that originally drafted him, and then the Padres, his hometown team, Jones knew that he’d get plenty of opportunities to see family and friends. They, on the other hand, would get to see him thriving as a big leaguer.

The rookie, born about half an hour away from Petco Park, headed into Friday’s series-opener against the Padres with a .250 average, an .804 OPS, nine home runs, 26 RBI, eight stolen bases and a 122 wRC+ over 57 games since his second of three call-ups this season. The left-handed hitter had been even better over his last 33 games — he hit .259 with an .838 OPS and seven dingers — and he’s coming off a three-game set against the Halos in which he crushed two home runs and totaled four RBI.

Jones also woke up on Friday with a 1.073 OPS against southpaws.

Spencer Jones & The Temple of Boom 💥 pic.twitter.com/vB90vNJQmw

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 2, 2026

Jones is far from perfect or a complete product. He hasn’t played the cleanest defense while roaming all three outfield positions, as shown in the Angels series, and his swing-and-miss tendencies are still omnipresent, as demonstrated by his Golden Sombrero on Wednesday.

But there is no denying that his stock has risen, thanks in large part to his ability to learn and adjust on the fly.

“I’ve used the word adaptability,” Aaron Boone, pleased with the 25-year-old’s progress, said in Anaheim. “He’s shown some real awareness: [his own] strengths and weaknesses, [those of] who he’s facing. He’s done a good job for us.”

Meanwhile, Trent Grisham is trending in the opposite direction ahead of his own return to San Diego. The former Padre had a pair of RBI singles in the Angels series, but Grisham took a 4-for-44 (.091) slump into Friday’s contest.

While the veteran has been burned by bad batted ball luck at times this season, Grisham was also hitting .211 with a .702 OPS, 18 homers and 59 RBI overall. Grisham, who accepted a qualifying offer for just over $22 million this past offseason, also had a 98 wRC+. That’s below league average.

“I feel like the last week’s been a little bit of a struggle going through it a little bit after several weeks of where the power was there and really controlling the zone,” Boone said of Grisham on Monday.

Grisham also owned a .691 OPS against fellow lefties entering Friday.

Making matters worse is that Grisham, a two-time Gold Glove winner, has been one of the worst center fielders in baseball this season. His -6 Outs Above Average ranks last at the position, while his -7 Defensive Runs Saved is third-worst among his peers.

The Astros score first after Trent Grisham is unable to make the play in center pic.twitter.com/RZ5MmuvH4W

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 26, 2026

Boone and Grisham have blamed his declining metrics on a handful of plays, and the latter has repeatedly said that he is healthy after going on the injured list with a hamstring strain earlier this season.

“If you watch him play every day, I think he’s really good out there. My expectation is that you trust him and feel like he’s going to be good moving forward,” Boone said before the road trip, but Grisham, who played through another hamstring injury while posting poor defensive metrics in 2025, is also the slowest center fielder in baseball in terms of sprint speed.

And so it was notable that, with Jones making just his third start in center since August began on Wednesday, Boone referenced his wheels while discussing the novice’s still-developing defense.

“I feel like overall, he’s done a pretty good job,” Boone said. “Been a couple balls up towards the fence, plays he feels like he maybe had a better chance to make. That said, I feel like he’s made a number of really good plays, sliding plays, athletic plays. He’s got, obviously, great speed, so that allows him to cover up some things. But he’s worked really hard on just continuing to get better at his route running and all that, and I think he’s done a really good job of not being overwhelmed by one day in right, one day in left, one day in center. It hasn’t seemed to faze him, and overall, he seems pretty comfortable with that, so that’s been good to see.”

Jones has graded out worse in the middle of the outfield than the corners — he has -1 DRS and -1 OAA in center — but as Boone mentioned, he has the speed and athleticism to overcome some of the bad initial reads he’s had a habit of making. Grisham simply doesn’t.

Throw in Jones’ superior numbers against left-handed pitching and general production at the plate, and he has made a case to start in center more often than Grisham, at least when the Yankees face a southpaw. However, Boone said “not necessarily” on Wednesday when asked if that should be expected moving forward.

Complicating matters is the pending return of Aaron Judge, who could come back from a fractured rib sometime on the Yankees’ upcoming homestand.

Judge will surely get some DH days as he gets himself back in the swing of things, but he’s expected to play right field. With Cody Bellinger locked into left, the captain’s return will eat into Grisham and/or Jones’ playing time, and that’s if the Yankees keep the latter on the roster.

As things stand, optioning Jones for Judge would be the move that preserves depth for the Bombers. But with the youngster consistently making an impact, the team could go in a different direction.

Cutting utilityman Amed Rosario, a defensive liability who hasn’t hit lefties like he was supposed to, aside from his last few games, is another possibility. That could be the more pragmatic move, as demoting Jones for Judge would leave Heliot Ramos, another lacking defender, as the only backup outfielder on the roster.

The Yankees still have time to figure these things out, as no date has been decided for Judge. There’s always a chance another injury negates the need for a tough decision, too.

In the meantime, however, Jones has warranted more playing time, whether that comes at Grisham’s expense or not.

“Obviously, [Jones is] playing incredibly well. Grish is going through a little stretch right now, although huge hit for us [Tuesday],” Boone said Wednesday afternoon with Grisham out of the starting lineup. “We’ve been through a tough stretch here of a lot of games and not a lot of days, so I want to be mindful of that. But I think Spencer’s earned the right to be in there, too.”