Pirates Have 'Bonafide' Gap-to-Gap Prospect
If the Pittsburgh Pirates are going to improve on offense next season, it's going to depend heavily on the performance of its young hitters.
One of the young hitters Pittsburgh will need to assert themselves is utility player Nick Yorke. With Yorke poised to play a big role for the Pirates next season, manager Derek Shelton praised the young player's hitting ability and said he could be one of the better young hitters the team has had in recent years.
"He can really hit," Shelton said at the Winter Meetings. " I think that's the thing. He controls the zone. He has the ability to drive the ball to right-center field. As a young hitter, he controls the middle of the diamond. He is a bonafide gap-to-gap guy. You'd like to talk about the ability to stay in the middle [of the] field, he has it. I don't know if we've had a young hitter over the last couple of years who controls the at-bats as well as he does at such a young age. It was a good trade for us. We were able to get an impactful guy."
Yorke was acquired from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline in exchange for right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester. Yorke is the Pirates' No. 6 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Yorke, 22, got a taste of the big leagues, playing 11 games for the Pirates at the end of the 2024 season. The utility prospect batted .216/.286/.378 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs in 37 at-bats. In 472 at-bats in the minor leagues, Yorke batted .303.383/.449 with 12 home runs and 72 RBIs.
Along with having a promising bat, Yorke also boasts versatility on defense. In his brief tenure in the big leagues, he played second base, third base, left field, and right field. Shelton wouldn't commit to where Yorke could potentially play, given that the team isn't put together yet.
"He has [the] versatility to play all over the diamond," Shelton said. "We saw him play third, we saw him play second [and] we saw him play in the outfield. So we'll have to decide with what the makeup of our group is of where he's going to be."
