The New York Yankees called up Spencer Jones on Friday to replace Jasson Dominguez, who will miss a few weeks with a left shoulder sprain. The move gives the Yankees a fresh bat and, for one night at least, a lineup that just got even taller.
Jones and Aaron Judge are both 6-foot-7, and according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, it is the first time in major league history that a team has had two position players that height on its roster at the same time. The Yankees now have the second-tallest lineup in the majors behind the Baltimore Orioles.
Jones, ranked No. 5 in the Yankees’ farm system by, was hitting.258 with 11 home runs and a.958 OPS in Triple-A this season before the promotion. The Yankees were on the road Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first game of a three-game series, and the call-up gives them a look at one of their most closely watched prospects while Dominguez recovers.
The timing matters because the Yankees did not wait for the injury to run its course before making the move. They chose the power and size of Jones now, not later, with Dominguez sidelined and a road series already underway. For a club built around Judge, the sight of two 6-foot-7 position players on the same roster is more than a novelty; it is a sign the Yankees believe Jones is ready to help at the major league level when the opportunity opened.
The immediate question is whether Jones can turn that Triple-A production into steady big league value while Dominguez is out. For now, the answer to the headline is simple: the Yankees brought him up Friday because they needed a replacement, and they may have landed the rarest kind of roster quirk in the sport while doing it.
