New York Yankees: Scouting Report On OF Billy McKinney
Future Outlook
I tend to see a fourth outfield future for McKinney in that he could pass in center on occasion, handles the corners very well, can hit pitching from both sides, is patient, and doesn’t really hurt a team offensively. The problem is that those skills are why you keep a guy on your bench, and not why you insert him into the starting lineup, and that’s where McKinney has seemingly stalled out this season.
He certainly has the athleticism and natural power to alter his swing and turn into a guy who could put out 20+ home runs in sacrificing a bit of average, and that could play quite well with his patience at the plate, but I have a feeling the Yankees will want to do that over an offseason of work with him. He also will be playing with the cozy right field porch in Yankee Stadium, which could allow his “okay” power to play up into a 20-homer hitter without making adjustments.
I really see McKinney comparing well to a guy like John Vander Wal. He’s a guy who had a long career as a bench bat and pinch hitter, playing 14 years and making over 3,000 plate appearances. Vander Wal only got over 450 plate appearances in a season twice in his career, typically being used in pinch hitting or part-time action, but he was extremely valuable in that role.
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McKinney’s next step will really be up to the Yankees. He turns 22 at the end of this month, so he’s not old by any means to be at AA, and they could send him to the Arizona Fall League to work on his power swing rather than an average swing. I could also see him spending a lot of time at fall instructs and then going to the Yankees’ choice of a winter league to work on that swing with a coach they want to see him with. He’s fallen a bit off of the prospect radar this season, but there’s still a useful major leaguer in McKinney’s skill set.