HOT PROSPECT
Yanks hope Florial can stay healthy so he can live up to his potential
In the spring of 2019 everyone at Yankees camp was dreaming of Estevan Florial. Florial, a left-handed hitter, hit a nice, sharp single, stole second base and later hit a home run that bounced off the top of the berm in left-center field at the Phillies’ Spectrum Field.
It left Aaron Boone shaking his head and laughing. Boone turned to Bombers great Reggie Jackson in the dugout and said there was a short list of hitters who could hit a ball there that hard.
Mr. October quickly pointed out that he was on that list.
Eight days later, however, Florial, trying to make a play in center field, slammed his right wrist against the wall and suffered a fracture.
That has been a common pattern to Florial’s career.
“The injuries have been frustrating for him, certainly, and cut into some of the development there’s no question,‘’ Boone said before the COVID-19 crisis halted spring training. “But, I think what hasn’t been lost is (he’s) still a special talent.
“He’s still a very young man (with) a chance to be an impact player at the big-league level.
It’s important for him to be able to go out and kind of have that clean season where he racks up 400 (at-bats) and has a full season, able to stay healthy.
“And then the development can start happening. It keeps getting interrupted.‘’
This year, it was obviously interrupted by the pandemic. The Yankees, however, invited Florial, who remained in Tampa and worked out with the dozen major leaguers who continued to report to George M. Steinbrenner Field, to be part of their taxi squad. Players across MLB will report to their spring training reboot sites today with workouts expected to begin on Friday.
For Florial, 22, it’s a chance to continue his development, and maybe help remind the Yankees why he was considered the top prospect in their system just two years ago.
“He’s a player that I really like. He’s got a lot there. He’s got a plus arm, plus speed and plus power,” said one National League scout who has watched Florial over the past few summers. “It’s frustrating that he just hasn’t had the time to develop. He really needs the at-bats in the minors to work on recognizing pitches and better selection.
“He’s a player that all the scouts love, but the development just hasn’t been there the last few years.”
Florial was expected to begin his season in Double-A after having spent part of the last four in Class-A, having missed out on opportunities to advance because of injuries. In 2018, Florial played just 75 games at Tampa, due in large part to a broken hamate bone in his right hand.
In 2019, Florial was batting .355 in 13 spring training games when he broke his right wrist. He never really found his way back. He hit .237/.297/.383 in 74 minor-league games with 10
doubles, three triples, eight homers, 38 RBI and nine steals.
This spring, Florial was pretty much overshadowed by the new prospects like Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt, pitchers who have zoomed past him on all the prospect lists.
Florial dropped out of the Baseball America list for top 10 Yankee prospects, but was ranked No. 6 by MLB pipeline. He didn’t really help himself in the COVID-19 abbreviated spring training, either, going 4-for-20 with seven strikeouts.
Those strikeouts are the big concern with Florial, who struck out in 33% of his plate appearances last season. Over the last two years, both at Class-A Tampa, Florial struck out 185 times in 568 at-bats.
But Florial left the Yankees with a positive memory over the three-month hiatus. In the final game the Yankees played this spring, a 6-3 victory over the World Series champion Nationals, Florial lined home an eighth-inning run.
The talent is obvious. The potential is there. Now, in this unusual season, Florial has a chance to show Yankee brass, which will be watching closely, that he is still one of the most exciting prospects in the system.