New York Yankees prospect Estevan Florial gave Bombers fans a taste of a very bright future with an opposite-field blast on Thursday.
The New York Yankees were never interested in Bryce Harper, and Estevan Florial might be a big reason why.
Florial flashed his awesome potential in the sixth inning of a 6-0 spring-training victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. With two runners on, the lefty-swinging centerfielder crushed a massive homer to deep left center off Philly reliever Victor Arano.
Bombers manager Aaron Boone was certainly impressed by Florial’s mighty swing.
“I mean, wow. There is a short list of people who can hit a ball like that,” Boone told the New York Post’s George A. King III. “I told that to Reggie Jackson on the bench, that it was a short list of guys, and he told me he was one of them.”
It was Florial’s first long ball in 30 grapefruit-league games with the Yankees since 2017. He finished the game 2-for-3 and is slashing an impressive .368/.429/.632 in eight games this spring.
[membership level="0"] [/membership]Per MLB’s top-100 prospect list, the 21-year-old is the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect, and No. 57 overall. New York signed him from the Dominican Republic in 2015, giving the then 17-year-old a $200,000 bonus.
In four minor-league seasons, he’s hit a solid .281/.365/.449 with 34 home runs and 64 stolen bases.
He hasn’t played above high-A ball yet, but a hamate injury in early 2018 slowed him down a bit. From what the Yankees saw in camp on Thursday, though, he’s completely back on track.
He’ll be knocking on the door to the Bronx in no time.