NEW YORK — Spencer Jones visited Missouri in December for a business trip — the same one that, years earlier, changed the trajectory of Aaron Judge’s career.Jones met with Richard Schenck, Judge’s personal hitting coach, for the first time. Jones’ personal hitting coaches in Nashville, Tenn. — Will Haynie and Justin Wilson — teach Schenck’s High Level Pattern technique, which Judge has made famous since implementing it during his Rookie of the Year season in 2017. He has since perfected it, winning three American League MVP awards and becoming the best hitter of his generation.So Jones and his coaches went to Missouri to learn from the man himself.“They knew what they were doing,” Jones told The Athletic of Haynie and Wilson, “But we’re learning everything via the Internet. Then this offseason, we actually went out and saw Rich in Missouri. That helped a lot. Being in communication with Judge, too, helps us speak the same language as hitters. That’s what it’s all about.”Jones has frequently been compared to Judge, who also struggled with swing-and-miss as a young player, but the two are significantly different hitters. Yes, they are both 6-foot-7 and freakish athletes, but they are not the same. The main thing they have in common is their dissatisfaction with their MLB debuts. For Jones, it goes further back.He struck out 200 times in Double A in 2024, the most ever for a Yankees minor leaguer in a single season. He was once a top 100 prospect, but the lack of contact lowered his pedigree to the point where many scouts questioned his long-term viability. So Jones had to adjust.The lefty slugger has constantly tweaked his batting stance, trying to find something that could get his swing-and-miss to a passable level. It finally clicked before spring training began.