Andruw Jones closing in on Spring Training home run records
It seems Braves fan echo the same refrain every year: “This should be the year Andruw Jones breaks out and establishes himself as one of the premier power hitters in the game.” If the Spring Training stats are any indication this indeed may be that year! Through Monday, Andruw had accumulated 10 home runs and 17 RBIs in exhibition play. He has a .400 (16-for-40) batting average and has only struck out three times. Shocking, I know! 
His 10 homers lead both the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues. Sammy Sosa hit 12 homers in 1999. Andruw is within striking distance of that figure. It’s unclear if any player has ever hit more homers in an exhibition season. The Braves media relations department could find no record of a Braves player hitting double figures in spring home runs since 1990 (they didn’t check back further than that).
Jones attributes his torrid start to a new, wider batting stance suggested to him by none other than Willie Mays (I guess he didn’t have enough credibility) several years ago. If this is true, he apparently could have been producing like this years ago if he had listened. 
Better late than never I suppose… Hopefully he’ll still be drilling those curve balls in April and beyond.
