SAN DIEGO \u2014 Before the Yankees made their way out west, Spencer Jones eagerly anticipated the trip.<\/p>\n
With series lined up against the Angels, the club that originally drafted him<\/a>, and then the Padres, his hometown team, Jones knew that he\u2019d get plenty of opportunities to see family and friends. They, on the other hand, would get to see him thriving as a big leaguer.<\/p>\n The rookie, born about half an hour away from Petco Park, headed into Friday\u2019s 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 \u2014 he hit .259 with an .838 OPS and seven dingers \u2014 and he\u2019s coming off a three-game set against the Halos in which he crushed two home runs and totaled four RBI.<\/p>\n Jones also woke up on Friday with a 1.073 OPS against southpaws.<\/p>\n Spencer Jones & The Temple of Boom \ud83d\udca5 pic.twitter.com\/vB90vNJQmw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Jones is far from perfect or a complete product. He hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n But there is no denying that his stock has risen, thanks in large part to his ability to learn and adjust on the fly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve used the word adaptability,\u201d Aaron Boone, pleased with the 25-year-old\u2019s progress, said in Anaheim. \u201cHe\u2019s shown some real awareness: [his own] strengths and weaknesses, [those of] who he\u2019s facing. He\u2019s done a good job for us.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s below league average.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like the last week\u2019s 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,\u201d Boone said of Grisham on Monday.<\/p>\n Grisham also owned a .691 OPS against fellow lefties entering Friday.<\/p>\n Making matters worse is that Grisham, a two-time Gold Glove winner, has been one of the worst center fielders in baseball this season<\/a>. His -6 Outs Above Average ranks last at the position, while his -7 Defensive Runs Saved is third-worst among his peers.<\/p>\n The Astros score first after Trent Grisham is unable to make the play in center pic.twitter.com\/RZ5MmuvH4W<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you watch him play every day, I think he\u2019s really good out there. My expectation is that you trust him and feel like he\u2019s going to be good moving forward,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s still-developing defense.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like overall, he\u2019s done a pretty good job,\u201d Boone said. \u201cBeen 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\u2019s made a number of really good plays, sliding plays, athletic plays. He\u2019s got, obviously, great speed, so that allows him to cover up some things. But he\u2019s worked really hard on just continuing to get better at his route running and all that, and I think he\u2019s done a really good job of not being overwhelmed by one day in right, one day in left, one day in center. It hasn\u2019t seemed to faze him, and overall, he seems pretty comfortable with that, so that\u2019s been good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones has graded out worse in the middle of the outfield than the corners \u2014 he has -1 DRS and -1 OAA in center \u2014 but as Boone mentioned, he has the speed and athleticism to overcome some of the bad initial reads he\u2019s had a habit of making. Grisham simply doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Throw in Jones\u2019 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 \u201cnot necessarily\u201d on Wednesday when asked if that should be expected moving forward.<\/p>\n Complicating matters is the pending return of Aaron Judge, who could come back from a fractured rib sometime on the Yankees\u2019 upcoming homestand<\/a>.<\/p>\n