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Yankees' Spencer Jones provides new hope after Aaron Judge injury

Yankees' Spencer Jones provides new hope after Aaron Judge injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In Spencer Jones' first MLB stint with the New York Yankees, he batted .167 and struck out in half of his at bats.

Things went much better on Friday night in Jones' return to the majors in place of the injured Aaron Judge.

Jones went 3-for-3 in the Yankees' loss to the Boston Red Sox.

“I was excited,” Jones said after the game, via MLB.com. “It’s the rivalry, a lot of fans in the stands. I felt pretty good. I’m here, so I’m just going to keep doing my thing.”

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Jones began his night with a single.

He then hit an RBI double, his first extra-base hit in the major leagues.

Jones singled for a second time in the sixth inning.

It had to be a big confidence booster for Jones, who now knows a little bit better what to expect in MLB.

“I think the first time around, it’s a lot of new information – a lot of new sights, a lot of new things,” Jones said. “The last couple of weeks gave me some time to think about things and the way I wanted to play. Being able to internalize that and get the call back was good for me.”

The Yankees know that Jones will still strike out, and that he won't get a hit every time he's at the plate.

But this was a hugely encouraging sign. The absence of Judge looms extremely large. The Yankees have to get at least some quality production out of Jones just to tread water in the meantime.

And after Jones really struggled to put the pieces together in his first foray into the big leagues, he now looks much more like he belongs.