ABQ
Nick Yorke, IF
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Scouting report
If you read the Cleveland prospect list, you'll know that they (and seemingly other model-driven amateur departments) have a penchant for drafting California high schoolers whose profiles are spearheaded by their hit tool, and that this sort of methodology seems to be spreading. This describes Yorke, who the Red Sox made their surprising first round pick in 2020, and who is perhaps the most divisive prospect I've had to write up so far this offseason. I had a 35+ FV on Yorke, pre-draft. The bulk of my in-person looks came during 2019 PG National and the Area Code Games. During that time, he looked like a polished bat who couldn't play shortstop due to a lack of arm strength, perhaps a lingering effect of a labrum tear from Yorke's sophomore year of high school that caused him to spend his junior year DH'ing and playing the outfield. His infield footwork, hands, and actions were all fine, but the arm strength was not, and if that continues, then at best he'll be able to play second base, which is where I have him projected. That's still a favorable place on the defensive spectrum and Yorke doesn't even have to develop a ton of power to profile there so long as he truly has a plus bat that produces bushels of doubles. Indeed, several amateur scouting departments think he'll easily be able to do that, and even the clubs that didn't pick him think Yorke was one of the, if not the, most polished high school hitters on the West Coast in 2020. Pro scouts' looks in the Fall were not as strong. One noted to me that they did not see Yorke pull a ball in the air at all during Instructional League. He showed up to the Red Sox alt site looking a little heavier and less athletic than he did the summer before, which perhaps puts him on a trajectory to be a shift-aided second baseman, but he's still young enough for variability in this regard and I'm told that what he looked like at the alt site was better than how he looked physically earlier in the spring. I was light on him before the draft, but still think $2.7 million was overzealous even though it facilitated overslot picks later. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)