In the small sample size of 29 plate appearances, Spencer Jones has gone 8-for-25 with two home runs, two doubles, a triple and a 1.134 OPS against left-handed pitching.
The lefty slugger will have to prove more to remain in the game when matched up with particularly tough southpaws.
In a one-run game in the eighth inning Thursday, manager Aaron Boone lifted Jones for righty-hitting Heliot Ramos against Seattle lefty José Ferrer, who is one of the game’s best relievers at neutralizing lefty hitters.
“That’s one of the reasons we brought Heliot Ramos in was his presence against [lefties],” Boone said of the trade-deadline pickup, who grounded out and has not started well with the Yankees (2-for-25).
Boone said he did not consider leaving Jones, who had a strong game Wednesday but went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Thursday’s 1-0 loss, in to face Ferrer. Entering play, Ferrer held fellow lefties to a .553 OPS with zero home runs in 109 plate appearances while righties (.913 OPS with five home runs) have crushed him.
In that way, Boone said Ferrer is “unique” because he has “really struggled with right-handed hitters.”
This was the type of scenario GM Brian Cashman may have envisioned in acquiring the former Giant, Ramos entering the at-bat hitting .271 with a .795 OPS against southpaws, and became Boone’s choice over Jones and Paul Goldschmidt.
For one August game, it didn’t work.
After going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored Wednesday, George Lombard Jr. was moved up to fifth in the lineup and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He had batted from sixth through ninth in his first seven major league games.
Boone downplayed the ascension, chalking it up to his “obsession with trying to create a little balance.” The righty swinger hit between lefties Luis García Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. for a lineup that alternated handedness from Nos. 4-9.
Regardless, Boone needed a righty to bump up and chose Lombard over José Caballero and Ali Sánchez.
“His approach has been excellent,” Boone said of Lombard.
Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger, who both had run the bases — typically a significant step that leads to a rehab assignment — the past two days, came through fine, Boone said.
Boone declined to reveal the next steps for either and said the organization has not yet decided if Stanton — out since April with a pair of calf strains — will require a rehab assignment.
Carlos Rodón was set for a second rehab start Thursday night with Double-A Somerset. The lefty, rehabbing from elbow inflammation, had thrown 48 pitches over 2 ²/₃ innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his first.
Yerry De los Santos (1 ²/₃ scoreless innings, three strikeouts) has not allowed an earned run in seven of eight appearances this year.
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The Yankees held a ceremony before the game honoring Goldschmidt, who is this season’s club nominee for the Heart and Hustle Award, which “is presented annually to an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.”
