Yankees' draft pick Spencer Jones is carving it up in the minor leagues

Is Spencer Jones going to have an MLB ETA in the near future?

Pundits called Yankees draft prospect Spencer Jones a "five-tool" player when they selected him with the 25th overall pick in this year's MLB Draft. His frame is enormous at 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, his power is above average, and so is his defensive prowess in center field.

If his early stats are any indication, it appears the Yankees made a great selection at 25 this year. Take a look at his Low-A splits to start off the season.

Jones, a lefty, has brought a unique set of skills to the table. His background in high performance as both a pitcher and a hitter is getting him in the mindset of becoming the most complete player he can be, and it's been paying off.

The question burning, similar to other prospects in his shoes such as Austin Wells and Jasson Dominguez, becomes a matter of when he's ready to contribute in the big leagues. Some believe it'll be within the next two years. Others believe that at age 21, he's got nothing but time on his side...as Aaron Judge took his time to develop as well, making his MLB debut at age 25.

Also, take a look at this scouting report from Primetime Sports Talk. Comparisons to Judge and Giancarlo Stanton throughout. But the other end of the spectrum equates to Joey Gallo...yikes! That's a risk I'm willing to take.

Strengths

Jones has tremondous raw power which came out this past season and he also hits the ball very hard. His batted ball profile is filthy good, and he hit the hardest ball in college baseball history with a 119.1 mph line drive single to right field. He posted a Top 8th exit velocity of 112.1 mph, which is the best of the entire draft and only beat out by Giancarlo Stanton of all major leaguers.

At 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, Jones is built like a brick house and doesn’t have to do much to get balls out. He was only in the seventh percentile for outfield flyball rate, but that doesn’t matter much when he is strong enough to get line drives out. As large of a man he is, Jones also has good speed as he can steal his share of bases and go from first to third on base hits. He is able to cover some ground in the outfield and has an average arm out there.

Weaknesses

The only real knock on Jones is that his swing is naturally long and he will have trouble on inside fastballs. His pull rates are well below average which will weaken his power output. It obviously isn’t a bad thing to go the other way but he will need to learn to adjust to pitches on the inner half and still make quality contact. There are swing-and-miss concerns, as well, but that often happens with pure power hitters. However, if he does begin trying to elevate the ball more, that will put a damper on his contact rates. The whiff rates could go more towards Joey Gallo territory, which is scary.