Red Sox Prospect Nick Yorke Has Massive Chip On Shoulder From Pre-Draft Ranking
Nick Yorke is a name you’re going to hear in the show for a long, long time. The Red Sox drafted Yorke with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 MLB first-year player draft. A decision that raised a lot of eyebrows at the time. A year later, that decision looks brilliant by Chaim Bloom and the rest of the Red Sox front office.
Yorke won the 2021 minor league Offensive Player of the Year. Keep in mind that’s no small feat. It’s the same farm system that also carries Triston Casas who posted a batting line of .284/.395/.484 with 13 bombs in 77 games. Yorke has done nothing except tear the cover off the ball.
The numbers the former first round pick out of California has put up are ungodly. He batted .325 with a .412 on-base percentage, .516 slugging percentage, .928 OPS, 14 homers, 20 doubles, five triples, 76 runs, 62 RBIs and 13 steals in 97 games between low and high A ball. Yorke then slashed 333/.406/.571/.978 in 21 games with the Greenville Drive.
The best part of all? Yorke has that eye of the tiger. This man is destined to be great and carries a serious chip on his shoulder. He’s still mad at being a low ranked prospect prior to the MLB Draft.
“Absolutely it’s motivation,” Yorke said. “I still know the number. I was ranked 139th going into the draft … 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, try to make the most of it and prove to them I’m not 139th.”
“It’s a big chip on my shoulder,” Yorke said. “I’m ready to call MLB Network and say, ‘Hey, I know you guys were surprised but here I am. Let’s get it going.’ So I’m excited for that.”
Also, keep in mind the Red Sox pulled some cheese prior to the MLB Draft. Yorke was ready to commit to Vanderbilt. Nobody found out about it until the Sox actually picked him as some sort of hidden information. Yorke likely would have been ranked higher after that announcement was made.
Yorke, 19, will likely see MLB action sometime in 2022 or 2023. We’ll see what the young infielder is really made of when he makes his AA debut next year. For now, Sox fans should be excited for a potential star in the farm system.
