The New York Yankees are heading to Busch Stadium to take on the slumping St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was supposed to be back in St. Louis for the first time since leaving in the offseason, but a sprained knee in Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Twins may complicate those plans.
Goldschmidt could land on the injured list, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. The Yankees would then have to replace him on the active roster. However, there is one thing the Yankees will want to avoid doing, and that is calling up outfield prospect Spencer Jones.
Jones is the team's No. 4 prospect, and he has performed well in the minor leagues this season, but the Yankees should make sure they don't rush him to the big leagues.
Yankees should avoid making key Spencer Jones mistake if Paul Goldschmidt goes down
Jones is hitting .289 with a .388 on-base percentage and .627 slugging percentage between Double-A and Triple-A. He also has a 1.015 OPS, has hit 30 home runs and driven in 62 runs.
If Goldschmidt goes down, the Yankees might be forced to ultimately call up Jones, and that might be tempting given his stats this year. If so, they would likely put Jones in the outfield and have Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger splitting duties at first base with Goldschmidt out.
But they want to be careful not to rush him to the big leagues, as sometimes this can have a negative effect on the player. If Goldschmidt is going to miss time, though, then the Yankees might have no choice but to do it, and that is a scenario they should hope to avoid at all costs.
Jones was the 25th pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, being selected out of Vanderbilt University. He has quickly risen through the ranks of the Yankees system, but he might not be quite ready to make the jump to the Major Leagues just yet.
It would be best for the Yankees to play the long game and bring him up to the big leagues in 2026 instead, and have him compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster next season.
We will see what the Yankees ultimately decide to do if they are forced to put Goldschmidt on the injured list. If they have to call up Jones, it might ultimately hurt his development.