The New York Yankees have given Tyler Wade a fair shot in the majors and he’s come up short this season. Hold on tight though because this is far from the end of the Tyler Wade experiment.
Homegrown prospects are the specialty of the New York Yankees. Just think Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and, most recently, Aaron Judge. These Yankees have way with prospects.
Tyler Wade is one of those guys. After serving in all levels of the Yankees farm system, the 23-year-old finally got a spot on the Opening Day roster for the Bombers.
Coming out of spring training looking like a defensive veteran and batting .286, Wade was destined to get opportunities to break out in a big way.
So far, that hasn’t happened. With his .094 batting average in 11 games, Wade has essentially been a sure out each time he steps up to the plate.
With that, it seems that Wade should be grabbing a one-way bus ticket back to Scranton, trading places with superstar Gleyber Torres this season. However, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Wade this season.
In fact, we likely will be seeing a lot of him in this first half of the season.
For Tyler Wade, the experiment is far from over…it has just begun. While Wade is underperforming at the plate, the only way for him to improve is by facing major league pitching, not by crushing minor league pitchers like he did last season.
Wade participated in 85 games with the Triple-A Railriders last season, posting a .310 batting average with seven home runs and 31 RBI. He has already dominated Triple-A pitching. Sending him down wouldn’t do much for his personal development.
Not only that but Wade is known for his versatility on the field. In this young season, he’s already played second base and an outfield position. Not only can he play both but he looks like an expert in both areas despite the vast differences between positions.
Along with Wade’s versatile play and fielding chops, he also boasts incredible speed that rivals that of another fan favorite in Brett Gardner. The combination of speed and defensive talent is more than enough for Aaron Boone to give him a shot.
He may be playing poorly at the plate but he’s shown that his defensive talent and speed are more than enough to keep testing him.
The majors are an entirely different place. If Wade gets sent down, it would simply be for him to dominate Triple-A pitching, not learn how to carve his own path at the plate in Yankee Stadium. It would likely hinder his development.
The Yankees know that. Boone knowns that. Brian Cashman knows that. And the second Wade starts to show signs of turning it around, fans will be ecstatic with the results.
11 games is far too small of a sample size to get a real read on Tyler Wade. No, he hasn’t done particularly well but he also hasn’t had much of a chance.
No matter how much fans beg and plead for Wade to be sent down and wait until next year, it won’t happen. Wade has all the tools to be a successful major league player and he needs that experience to figure it out. Early in the season, Boone and the Yankees will give him that opportunity to do so because they aren’t ready to give up on him just yet.
So expect to see even more, not less, of Tyler Wade. And get used to it, because once he figures it all out, he’ll be a fixture in the Bronx for quite some time.
