By Tamar Chalker
March 20, 2022
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This year’s Spring Training featured the first “Spring Breakout,” four days where the prospects across the league were the focus. While the weather kept a few teams from being able to participate, the Yankees’ prospects crushed the Blue Jays’ prospects 9-1 in their game on Saturday. The Yankees landed three prospects on the Inaugural All-Spring Breakout First Team, which was named on Monday.
At first base, T.J. Rumsfield was tapped after going 2-2 with a homer and two RBIs. Rumsfield is not a ranked prospect for the Yankees and has had his second lackluster Spring Training in a row. In 11 games and 12 at bats, the 23-year-old infielder only has 2 hits and two RBIs. His five walks, however, have given him a .412 on-base percentage.
Rumsfield picked up a MiLB Gold Glove for his work with the Somerset Patriots last season. While he wasn’t an offensive powerhouse, Rumsfield started to show a bit more pop with his bat in 2023 – and we caught a glimpse of that in the Spring Breakout game when he clobbered the ball 394 feet to right-center field.
While Rumsfield’s dinger was worth noting, his teammate Spencer Jones smacked two homers in the game. The outfielder, who is the number two prospect in the Yankees’ system and 84th overall, went 3-4 with two homers and four RBIs. Going a combined 826 feet, both home runs flew off Jones’ bat at 107 and 109 mph respectively.
Jones has had a stellar Spring with the Yankees, going 8-18 with seven runs, a homer, four RBIs and a .444/.565/.722 line. His performance has a lot of people wondering if the big outfielder will make his MLB debut at some point in 2024, and while he is certainly one to keep watching, he only has 17 games in Double-A and no Triple-A experience. He spent most of 2023 with the High-A Hudson Valley. Of course, if he keeps hitting like he has so far this Spring and if the Yankees continue to struggle with injuries (as is once again the concern), it seems likely Jones will get his chance to take some swings in the Big Leagues.
The final Yankees’ player to get All-Spring Breakout honors is pitcher Brock Selvidge. The Yankees’ southpaw is currently ranked 11th in the system and certainly put up a big-league worthy performance. In four innings of work, Selvidge gave up one hit and one walk while striking out eight batters. His sweeper showed a lot of spin, as did his 95-mph fastball, giving Yankee fans a lot to be excited about in the future. Selvidge spent last season in Tampa (A) and Hudson Valley (A+), but is slated to start 2024 with Somerset.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch these young players in action yet, it is definitely worth your time to check out the whole game and/or the highlights on MLB.com.
