New York Yankees prospects Esteven Florial, Isiah Gilliam and Wilkerman Garcia turning it on
By Cory Claus
The New York Yankees best minor league position players so far have either been MIA or underperforming. Now three of their most promising hitters—Estevan Florial, Isiah Gilliam, and Wilkerman Garcia—are rapidly raising their numbers and their profiles.
The New York Yankees top thirty prospects list is filthy with dominating pitchers; or is it the other way around?
Either way, 22 of the Yankees best farm hands are hurlers, at least according to MLB.com. The ratio is even more out of balance when you consider that 3B Miguel Andujar and 2B Gleyber Torres are still on that list. And neither looks likely to play in the minors anytime soon.
Even top remaining position prospect Estevan Florial struggled after his sterling debut in Spring Training. In fact, he might have struggled because of it.
He wasn’t the only one. And when next best major league prospect UI Thairo Estrada was shot in the off-season and forced out of action until about two weeks ago, the combination left the position players’ production far behind their pitching counterparts.
Now that’s all changed. While Dillon Tate and Justus Sheffield fight to prove which is better, command of the strike zone or overpowering stuff, more than a few of the Yankees have suddenly started to hit.
And we’ll start with a Yankees mystery currently killing it at Double-A Trenton, LF Ben Ruta.
Converting Yankees Fans, as Well
Converted from SS, Ruta has been the only consistent offensive producer at either of the Yankees top two levels. This does not include anyone already promoted to the Bronx. His hot start is not enough to warrant any serious attention, but at least enough to demand notice.
Ruta was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 draft and has made steady if unspectacular progress. At least that’s the way it appears from his numbers.
In his first full season last year, Ben outhit his short 2016 season slash (.202/.266/.279) by a country mile: .273/.323/.302. That’s an impressive jump. In context, though, those numbers are still not very impressive.
Not for a 20-year old playing in Charleston and hitting for no power (zero home runs, three doubles, one triple). So even though Ruta started this season hitting and hitting and hitting some more, it wasn’t enough to raise awareness.
Now, however, though it’s still very early, he is getting harder to ignore.