Did you know that April 8th is Rex Manning Day?  I celebrate it every year!  Well, it’s a month later, and tomorrow’s May 8th, so are you ready for Spencer Jones Day?  Thanks to the injury to Jasson Dominguez, the hype train arrives today.   The player who hit 35 homeruns in the minors in 2025 (good for 2nd in all the minors) shows up tomorrow.  The player who leads the minor league in RBIs (with 41 in just 33 games) shows up tomorrow.  The player who is near the top of the leaderboard in minor league strikeouts (with 46) shows up today.  So, what player should we expect?  Will he be the next Aaron Judge?  Will he be the next Joey Gallo?  Will you settle for the next Dave Kingman?  I would.

Dave Kingman was regarded as an overpaid hired gun

I started watching baseball towards the end of the 1986 season, so the first baseball cards I collected were in early 1987.  I remember that set well.  That was also Dave Kingman’s last year.  A year he slashed .210/.255/.431 for the Athletics, yet popped 35 home runs, which is the most by a player (by far) in his last season.  After the season, no one wanted him.  His time as a hired gun ended, despite the immense power (probably because he cost too much money).  It seems the man who was the strikeout champion of his time (he ranks 26th all-time with 1816) was no longer wanted.  This was after a playing career with *checks notes* seven teams, including a brief stint with the Yankees.

Dave Kingman was a good player based on today’s standards

In 2026, every team is looking for a guy with power.  Batting average is now an irrelevant statistic (sadly), and OPS is the true metric of a player.  It no longer matters how many strikeouts you have.  Kingman had a career batting average of .236, but his 442 career homeruns gave him a career .780 OPS and a career OPS+ of 115.  By today’s metrics, he was a solid above-average player for the 1970s and 1980s.  Nevertheless, he was only a three-time all-star, who never finished in the Top 10 in the MVP vote (he really should have in 1979 with the Chicago Cubs when he led the league in Homeruns, SLG, and OPS).   He was also just not very well respected in the game when he played.  He received three Hall of Fame votes in 1992 and then was off the ballot.  

Spencer Jones is likely to be the next Dave Kingman

Have you ever seen a video of Spencer Jones murdering a baseball?  The raw power is off the charts.  He hits pop-ups that leave the yard.  It is easy to see him play a long career where he hits 400 home runs.  The problem, of course, like Kingman, is that he cannot put the ball in play (his strikeout rate has always been above 30% in the minors).  So, when you strike out a ton, your batting average suffers.  Given the raw power, though, he does have a good chance to be an above-average player.  With Spencer Jones, you are looking at a .230/.320/.480 guy, which would be an 800 OPS, which would definitely make him an above-average player.  So, instead of expecting the next Aaron Judge, let’s just hope for the guy who won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1977 (due to his 27 plate appearances).  Because in today’s game, Dave Kingman would be a really good ballplayer.