Yankees not quite ready to use Spencer Jones against lefties

NEW YORK — With the Yankees facing Blue Jays southpaw Patrick Corbin and the lefty-swinging Spencer Jones out of the lineup on Sunday in Toronto , Aaron Boone was asked if the young outfielder could get some chances against left-handed pitches moving forward.

“Yeah, I think so,” the manager replied. “I’m sure at some point I’ll do that.”

That point did not come on Wednesday, however, as Jones, who went 1-for-2 with two walks, a strikeout and his first home run at Yankee Stadium in Tuesday’s win, was out of the lineup with the White Sox starting Anthony Kay , another left-hander. Boone said he debated giving Jones a go before the Yankees beat Chicago , 10-5, but Kay has dominated left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .143 average and a .482 OPS before Wednesday’s game.

Jones, meanwhile, has only gotten eight big league plate appearances against lefties. He entered Wednesday’s game hitless with two walks and four strikeouts against them. He struggled against left-handers at Triple-A this year as well, hitting just .208 with a .663 OPS.

“It really came down to Kay just being so good against lefties, and he’s had some struggles against righties,” Boone explained. “Pretty drastic, pretty big split. So it was definitely a game going into this week that I was going to have as much of a righty presence as I probably could have. But yeah, I did consider [Jones].”

With Kay throwing for the Sox, Boone had five righties in Wednesday’s lineup, as well as the switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez . The configuration resulted in the Bombers’ second straight win over the White Sox, which featured home runs from Cody Bellinger , who took Kay deep for a left-on-left crime, red-hot righty Paul Goldschmidt , and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

While the Yankees don’t seem eager to have Jones start against lefties, Boone has been impressed with the 25-year-old’s at-bats since being recalled.

Jones demonstrated the strikeout and in-zone contact issues that plagued him in the minors during his first big league cup of coffee earlier this season, hitting .167 with two RBI, three walks, 12 strikeouts and a .426 OPS over 27 plate appearances and 10 games. However, since returning to the big leagues in place of the injured Aaron Judge , Jones has hit .318 with two homers, five RBI, four walks, nine strikeouts and a 1.059 OPS over 26 plate appearances and eight games.