Aaron Judge’s return is about to force the Yankees into a choice they can’t keep dodging, and the answer is sitting right there in center field: Spencer Jones.
Judge is expected back at some point during the Yankees’ next homestand, which starts next Tuesday, though Aaron Boone has not pinned down an exact date. Even without the precise timeline, the possibility of Judge being back by the middle of the month has changed the conversation. Once he’s ready, the Yankees have to decide how to line up the outfield.
The move should be straightforward. Trent Grisham should head to the bench, and Jones should take over as the starting center fielder.
Grisham has been a useful player at times, but this season has not matched the standard the Yankees need from an everyday outfielder. He has been well below average defensively, and he has not produced the offense the team has asked for. There also appears to be some lingering impact from the hamstring injury he suffered earlier in the year, whether anyone wants to say it publicly or not.
Jones, meanwhile, has done enough to earn the job. Whenever Aaron Boone has turned to him, Jones has answered, handling all three outfield spots and becoming one of the few Yankees hitters who has actually delivered with runners in scoring position. He may also be the fastest player on the roster.
The defensive metrics are not kind to Jones - he has -1 OAA and a -0.2 dWAR - but the eye test tells a different story. He has misplayed a few balls, sure, yet nothing he’s done out there approaches how rough Grisham has been.
The numbers on Grisham are hard to ignore. He is hitting .209 this season, which ranks as the 5th-worst batting average among qualified hitters. He entered today with -6 Outs Above Average and -8 Defensive Runs Saved, both second-worst among qualified center fielders.
The bat comparison is just as lopsided. Jones is hitting .324 with a 1.003 OPS with runners in scoring position across 41 plate appearances. Grisham has had a much bigger sample, 111 plate appearances, and has produced a .204 average with a .663 OPS.
Grisham did have one hot run in mid-August, when he went on an eight-game tear, hit five home runs and drove in 10 runs. But that stretch does not erase what has been a difficult 2026 season overall.
He looks like a player somewhere between his All-Star-caliber 2025 and his rough 2022, when he hit .184 with a .626 OPS and an 81 OPS+. Right now, he’s at .209 with a .700 OPS - numbers that fit better as a bench bat than an every-day answer in center.
Jones is not a finished product. He has been sent back to Triple-A multiple times this season and has had to keep proving himself again and again.
But he has gotten better through that process. In 66 games, he is hitting .245/.320/.451 with nine homers, 28 RBI, nine stolen bases and a 113 OPS+.
He has also produced about twice the WAR Grisham has.
There is still risk. Jones strikes out a lot, with a 35% rate at the big league level so far. But the payoff is his power, his speed and his ability to move around the outfield.
Grisham does not need to disappear from the picture. He can still be part of the mix, especially off the bench and in the games where Judge needs to DH and the Yankees want another center field option.
But the Yankees cannot afford to repeat the Alex Verdugo mistake from 2024. When Judge returns, they should ride the hot hand and make Jones the starter.
If things change, Grisham can always slide back in.
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Snchezs 2017 win looked like the high-water mark, and it has been hard for the Yankees to recreate that kind of offensive edge at catcher since. The franchise now finds itself watching a spot it once seemed to own slip into uncertainty, with current and future options carrying the burden of restoring that Silver Slugger standard even as the wider history of the award shows how rare sustained dominance at the position can be. [Read more 🡒]