Farm Report: Sox get last laugh in Yorke pick? 19-year-old prospect blew away expectations

Dec. 17—When the Red Sox picked Nick Yorke with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, the choice stunned observers from across baseball.

Baseball America described the selection as a "shocker." Bleacher Report gave the pick a "D-" in its first-round report card. Experts questioned why the Red Sox would use a first-round pick on any high school second baseman, much less one not even ranked as a top 100 draft prospect.

A year and a half later, Yorke has made the Red Sox look like geniuses.

Now 19 years old, Yorke has emerged as one of the best hitters in the minor leagues. He tore the cover off the ball in his first full season of professional baseball and was subsequently named Boston's Minor League Offensive Player of the Year.

And yes, that pre-draft doubt has motivated him. and he isn't shy about saying so.

"Absolutely," Yorke told reporters at Fenway Park in September. "I still know the number, I was ranked 139th going into the draft by Perfect Game, but at the end of the day that's not going to help me get to the big leagues, so every opportunity that I got to be on the field I tried to make the most of it and prove to them that I'm not 139th."

He's certainly made the most of his opportunities so far.

Unable to play organized baseball for most of 2020 due to the pandemic, Yorke made his professional debut at Low-A Salem this past spring and initially got off to a rocky start. He batted .195 with a putrid .483 OPS in the month of May, but once the calendar turned to June something clicked and he took off like a rocket.

From June 1 to his promotion to High-A Greenville on Aug. 23, Yorke batted .373 with 10 home runs, 38 RBI and a 1.075 OPS in 55 games with Salem. He walked (33) more times than he struck out (26), and following his promotion he continued to rake, batting .333 with a .978 OPS in 21 games at Greenville.

"I'm lucky the season wasn't just a month or I wouldn't be here," Yorke joked. "It was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new people, learned a lot of new things, we were surrounded by a great group in Salem and in Greenville, so it was super easy just to go out and play and not worry about anything else."

Even factoring in the bad start, Yorke batted .325 with a .412 on-base percentage and .516 slugging percentage for the season. That made him one of the rare prospects to slash .300/.400/.500 as a teenager, putting him in the company of future MVP candidates like Mike Trout and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

"It's certainly a testament to the work he's put in," said Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham in September. "Obviously there is a reason we drafted him where we did and I think he's shown everyone why that's been the case."

One of the reasons why experts doubted Yorke is for his defense. As a pure second baseman Yorke does not possess particularly great range or arm strength, but Abraham said he's making progress and expects Yorke will continue to trend upwards as he gets more professional reps.

"I think he improved a lot over the season," Abraham said. "I think lateral movement improved throughout the year, I think turning the double play is something he'll continue to work on, his hands, and that's just the speed of the game, consistent reps, continued ground balls and fielding ground balls from different positions and the shift and throwing from different areas."

By season's end, Yorke ranked as Baseball America's No. 63 overall prospect and as Boston's No. 4 prospect behind Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer and Jarren Duran. That's quite a rise for a player who once ranked No. 139 in his own draft class, and if striving to prove people wrong helps him achieve his big league dream, that's as good a motivator as any other.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com.

Twitter: @MacCerullo.