The Polarizing Case of The Red Sox First Round Draft Pick: Nick Yorke

In a complete surprise move, that has angered and astonished many, the Red Sox selected Nick Yorke, a Second Baseman out of Archbishop Mitty High School (San Jose, Calif.), with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Who is this kid? Well most didnt even have him on their radar. He sat somewhere in the 130’s and even higher in prospect rankings coming into this draft, but Chaim clearly was obsessed with the kid. Why risk taking him so high? Well the kid could easily be the biggest sleeper pick in the draft, simply because of his bat. In California last year he hit .457.

Red Sox amateur scouting dir Paul Toboni: 'The main point on Nick is he's just a really advanced hitter … We see developing power with him, too.' Add in middle infield and 'that's what made us like him so much.' Toboni also says Sox were also very impressed by York's maturity

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) June 11, 2020

Defensively, Yorke is a lifelong shortstop, but after a problem shoulder messed up his throwing strength, he was moved to second base. Hopefully that means plus fielding, while still mainting that shortstop accuracy.

What I like the most about this kid though is how he fits into Boston culture already. He believed that he deserved the first round honor, and maybe the doubt will light a fire. “Personally I felt like I was a first-rounder… I know a lot of rankings and sites didn’t have me there. But personally I’m more of a blue collar, put-your-head-down, go-to-work kind of guy. I didn’t go out and do all the Perfect Game things guys get their rankings on. Wherever I played ball I played my hardest and the Red Sox fortunately saw me at one of those times and the rest is what just happened.” (MLB.com) Also, he is known to be a top character guy who fights out his at bats, and plays hard in the field.

Where do I sit on this pick? flabbergasted. It came out of nowhere, but I still sit on the side of believing in Chaim Bloom. When you look at some of the complete random stars that he drafted in his years with the Rays, and how he developed such competitive teams out of nothing, well, I just hope thats what is happening here.

-Dave Little (@DLittleMLB)