With Aaron Judge sidelined for the Yankees’ best-of-three Wild Card series against the Red Sox this week, the Bombers will need any advantage at all against a Boston rotation, led by Payton Tolle, that looks absolutely filthy. Interestingly enough, their advantage may not come from Ben Rice or recently reinstated Giancarlo Stanton, but rookie outfielder Spencer Jones.
While outfielder Trent Grisham was also added to the wild card roster after missing nearly a month with a hamstring strain, the rookie Jones has had a strong run at the plate in September, and critically, has raked against lefties.
Yankees’ Spencer Jones Advantage Against Payton Tolle
The Red Sox are sending out dominant lefty Payton Tolle for the first game of the series, and Tolle has had a great deal of success against the Yankees this season, going 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two starts.
Tolle’s nasty stuff was on full display against the Yankees in his last start on June 26, where he no-hit the Yankees for 5 1/3 innings. The man who broke up the no-hitter? Spencer Jones.
While it’s fair to argue about the relevance of a random single in June, the numbers back that Jones’ splits could be critical against a tough lefty.
A tweet sourcing data from Baseball Savant shows that not only does Spencer Jones mash southpaws, but Tolle is rather human against lefties. Jones hit to a .389 average with an absurd .667 slugging percentage and 1.107 OPS against lefties in 59 plate appearances, while lefty batters hit to a respectable .248/.301/.404 slash against Tolle this season.
With the Yankees badly needing help against the Red Sox’ stable of difficult lefties, Jones could play an outsized role in generating runs, especially when the lane for the Sox to win in Game 1 likely looks like a combination of Tolle, reliever Erik Miller, and closer Aroldis Chapman. And why not throw in Garrett Crochet, while you’re at it?
Yankees Could Be In Trouble Tonight
Today’s Wild Card Game 1 represents Tolle’s first playoff start as a big leaguer, and it’ll be a big test of what he’s made of at a very energized and hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium.
Still, Tolle seems like a good candidate to give the Yankees fits tonight, as they will have to bench top bats Luis Garcia Jr and Jazz Chisholm Jr, who will have to pinch hit when a righty comes in. For a righty to come in, the Yankees will have to work some long at-bats against Tolle, and with Jones sitting alongside Heliot Ramos, Cody Bellinger, Amed Rosario and Paul Goldschmidt as the few Yankee options that can hit lefties, it can’t be understated how huge of a role Jones may have to play tonight for the Yankees to come away with a win.
Yankees Have Surprising Advantage Against Red Sox Starter Payton Tolle