New York Yankees Outfield Prospect Dustin Fowler Has Day To Remember
Mar 10, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA New York Yankees center fielder Dustin Fowler (95) doubles during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees eighth-best prospect Dustin Fowler is not only tearing the cover off the ball in 2017, but he also had a day to remember on Sunday.

There are good days, there are bad days and there are days like the New York Yankees eighth-best prospect Dustin Fowler had on Sunday afternoon for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Facing the Indianapolis Indians in front of a crowd of 4,623 at PNC Field, Fowler matched a franchise record with his first career five-hit game which included the cycle and some game-clinching fireworks.


 


Fowler kicked his day off with a triple in the first inning and was later driven in on a base hit by Ji-Man Choi off Eury Perez. In the bottom of the fifth, he ripped a double to right field to drive in Tyler Wade. Fowler then lined a single to center in the seventh and doubled for his fourth hit in the ninth inning, needing just a home run to complete the cycle.

Thankfully, free baseball was in store in Northeast, PA.

With one out in the 11th, Fowler lifted his fourth home run of the young 2017 season off Indians’ pitcher Angel Sanchez to not only send the crowd into a walk-off frenzy, but complete a 4-for-5 day which featured the RailRiders’ first cycle since Ramon Flores did it in 2015.

Fowler now owns a .293/.341/.573 slash line in his first season of Triple-A baseball with 47 total bases in just 20 games. His current .573 slugging percentage, thanks to having as many extra-base hits as singles, tops the list of International League hitters with at least 80 at-bats.



In terms of what this means for the squad that plays its games at Yankee Stadium, we were truly waiting for his offensive ceiling to be reached and compliment his speed and defensive abilities.

MLB.com’s Pipeline gives the 22-year-old an MLB ETA of 2017 and although he’s not on the 40-man roster, this astronomical play can surely convince the brass to make room if an injury arises at any point.