In this edition of ESNY’s New York Yankees prospect profile, we take a look at outfielder Estevan Florial.
In March of 2015, the New York Yankees signed outfielder Estevan Florial out of Port au Prince, Haiti as an international free agent to continue their international spending spree.
The 19-year old has a tremendous amount of talent at such a young age, he is a stellar fielder with a pair of wheels as feet and a bat that packs an above average amount of pop.
Florial is considered as a left-handed hitter who is built for Yankee Stadium with his very clean swing. He is able to spray the ball across the field with his raw power, but one thing he needs to do is cut down on his strikeouts.
Last season split between three levels, the left-hander had a 28 strikeout percentage, which is considerably higher than the Yankees would like it to be.
Scouting grades via MLB Pipeline: Hit: 45 / Power: 55 / Run: 60 / Arm: 65 / Field: 60 / Overall: 50
As seen by the grades, scouts have given Florial above average grades for his power, running, his arm and his fielding. Pretty much all of the 19-year old’s grades are already above average so young in his professional career.
Florial stands at 6-foot-1 while weighing 185 pounds, he has a very lean and athletic frame that could help him produce even more power as he matures.
When the left-handed hitter made his debut in the 2015 season, he was able to live up to all of the hype and expectations that were placed upon him once he was signed.
In 57 games playing in the Dominican Summer League, Floria sported an eyepopping .313/.394/.527 slash line with seven home runs, 53 RBI’s and 15 stolen bases.
Following this tremendous debut campaign, expectations were outstandingly high for Florial heading into the 2016 season. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to replicate this success from his debut year, experiencing sophomore struggles at the plate in 2016.
In 67 games split between three levels, the Haitian-born outfielder slashed just .227/.312/.371 with eight home runs. The power was still there, but he has a tough time getting those base hits we was getting in 2015.
Despite having struggled in 2016, scouts are still high on Florial due to him having all of the tools necessary to become a key asset for the Yankees one day.
Florial will most likely begin the 2017 season in Single-A, where it will be intriguing to see if he is able to make the necessary adjustments in order to improve from his disappointing 2016 campaign.
