Florial eyes center stage between Stanton, Judge
TAMPA — After the main event of Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge taking batting practice ended on Monday, the other groups took BP at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Estevan Florial was in the final group, with mostly other young prospects, but he likely won’t stay there for long.
Yankee officials love his speed, power and defense and envision him as an All-Star center fielder.
While he just turned 20 in November, Florial could — at some point — end up playing between Stanton and Judge in the outfield.
“I want to be around those guys,” Florial said of the two sluggers who made their debut on the field together during the Yankees’ first full workout of the spring.
“It’s crazy,” Florial said of his presence with his high-profile teammates. “Anything’s possible. I don’t want to put that in my mind. I would like to be next to those two.”
Before he can get to that, Florial has to turn himself from a prospect into a player.
He hit well with Class-A Charleston and Tampa with an .850 OPS last season before impressing at the Arizona Fall League.
The major concern is his whopping strikeout numbers.
In 476 plate appearances between Tampa and Charleston, Florial whiffed 148 times. He also struck out 29 times in 81 plate appearances for Scottsdale in the AFL.
“Last year, I struck out so many times,” said Florial, who was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. “I’ll try to figure it out.”
That will be among the focal points of his first spring training in major league camp, where he was immediately placed in right field for drills, along with Stanton and Judge.
“The potential is real,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “He is one of those guys we view as a very high-ceiling, great kid.”
The Yankees are confident he has the ability to be an elite defender and are — for now — relatively unconcerned about the strikeouts.
They point to his youth and relative lack of experience and believe Florial will gain a better understanding of the strike zone the more he plays.
Florial is held in such high regard that the Yankees told teams this offseason that he would not be included in any trade, including when they were looking to land Gerrit Cole from Pittsburgh.
“Hopefully we can get him out there quite a bit,” Boone said of Florial’s time in big-league camp. “Being around impactful, big-time stars, I think it will help him in his development. I think you will see him quite a bit early playing in games. I can’t wait to see him get out there because the talent is real.”