Toronto Blue Jays: Billy McKinney’s wild, strange trip
Starting in left field and leading off today for the Toronto Blue Jays is the end point of an amazing journey for Billy McKinney
Yes, he made his debut for the New York Yankees earlier this year, but Billy McKinney‘s journey has really reached its ending today as he made his Toronto Blue Jays debut, batting leadoff and playing left field.
Billy McKinney was a very highly regarded high school player from Texas, considered to have the best swing of the 2013 high school class from the left side of the plate. Many felt he would be an above-average hitter for power and average but likely was going to be a below-average defender in the outfield or need to move to first base.
McKinney lasted until the 24th selection when the Oakland Athletics selected him. In his draft season, he showed all of that promise that everyone saw, hitting .326/.387/.437 with 3 home runs and 8 stolen bases, putting together a solid 20/33 BB/K ratio over 243 plate appearances.
The Athletics were aggressive with McKinney in 2014 as they sent the 19-year-old to high-A in his first full-season assignment, and he struggled with contact, even in the hitter-friendly Cal League, with a .241/.330/.400 line with 10 home runs and 5 stolen bases, posting a 36/58 BB/K ratio over 333 plate appearances.
However, in the middle of that first full season, the Oakland Athletics were in the midst of a pennant chase, and they were in need of pitching. To acquire that pitching, they turned to the Chicago Cubs, who had two very good starters available, Jason Hammell and Jeff Samardzija.
In what would become a trend on even years, McKinney was traded with a highly-regarded infielder in a mid-season deal for pitching, as he was packaged with Addison Russell and Dan Straily to the Chicago Cubs. Oddly, the Athletics would end up trading for future Cubs ace in that same trade deadline, acquiring Jon Lester. This began Billy’s Cubs tenure.
Time with the Chicago Cubs organization
While Addison Russell was up to Chicago in 2015 and helped to spark the team to a playoff run while Straily was traded as part of a deal to bring Dexter Fowler to Chicago, McKinney would be more humble in his introduction to the Cubs organization.
The remainder of the 2014 season, McKinney was a standout for Daytona in the Florida State League as a teenager, hitting .301/.390/.432 in the power-starved league, knocking out just 1 home run, but pounding the gaps for 12 doubles and 4 triples over 51 games. Overall in 2014, he totaled a .264/.354/.412 with 11 home runs and 6 stolen bases, posting a 61/100 BB/K ratio over 543 plate appearances.
He got national notice for his late-season play as a teen, ranking as the #83 prospect in baseball for Baseball America, #88 for MLB Pipeline, and #81 for Baseball Prospectus.
McKinney struggled with injury to open the 2015 season, but he was able to hit well with the new Cubs high-A affiliate in Myrtle Beach of the Carolina League once he returned, posting a .340/.432/.544 over 29 games with a 17/13 BB/K ratio. He received a promotion to AA Tennessee, and he didn’t really slow down, hitting .285/.346/.420 with very good gap power, pounding out 26 doubles in 77 games.
Combined in the 2015 season, McKinney hit .300/.371/.454 with 31 doubles and 7 home runs, posting an impressive 44/60 BB/K ratio over 433 plate appearances. However, his lack of home run power seemed to drop him off of the radar for most lists, with only Baseball Prospectus keeping McKinney on their offseason list, ranking him #71 overall.
With an impressive young club in Chicago coming off a playoff run in 2015, McKinney certainly thought his success in AA would give him a leg up on working toward a late-season role on the 2016 team and certainly a AAA assignment, but instead, he returned to AA. Whether it was due to boredom due to repeating the level or effects from a number of rumored nagging injuries, though McKinney never went on the DL.
McKinney was hitting .252/.355/.322 with just one home run in 88 games with Tennessee when the Cubs made a move to send McKinney to the New York Yankees in a package of players that once again included a highly-touted infielder for pitching. The Cubs sent McKinney, Rashad Crawford, Gleyber Torres, and Adam Warren for Yankees star reliever Aroldis Chapman.
With the Yankees, trade to Jays
Once again the second-biggest name in a deadline deal, McKinney didn’t have the same surge with his new team in 2016 the way he did when he was acquired by the Cubs. He hit .234/.310/.375 for AA Trenton to finish the 2016 season with a .246/.342/.338 line with 19 doubles and 4 home runs over 491 plate appearances, with a 59/97 BB/K ratio.
McKinney struggled in a return to Trenton in 2017, but he did take off when he was promoted to AAA, with a .250/.339/.431 line with Trenton over 69 games before he hit .306/.336/.541 over 55 games in AAA with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Combined, he hit .277/.338/.483 with 29 doubles, 7 triples, and 16 home runs over 500 plate appearances.
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His impressive finish to the season earned him a spot on the Yankees Arizona Fall League roster for 2017. He made an excellent show in Arizona, hitting .279/.373/.426 with 5 doubles, a triple, and a home run, posting an 11/16 BB/K ratio over 19 games. One scout I talked with about McKinney’s AFL performance mentioned that it seemed he found a way to knock in a run every time there were runners on base, and indeed, he had 20 RBI in his 19 games.
McKinney made the opening day roster for the Yankees this spring, and interestingly made his MLB debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 30th, going 1-4. He was injured on March 31st, and he did not return to the field until May 10th. He was hitting for power this season in the minors but not for great average, posting a .227/.311/.475 line with the Yankees system, hitting 13 home runs and even posting a surprising 28/62 BB/K ratio over 267 plate appearances.
Because it’s an even year, McKinney was traded in a deal this July that sent he and a highly-desired infielder for pitching. McKinney and infielder Brandon Drury were sent to the Toronto Blue Jays for starter J.A. Happ.
Though he’s struggled with contact with the AAA Buffalo team since the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him, hitting .203, McKinney has hit 3 home runs over 20 games, garnering him a call to the big leagues Friday and a start, leading off on Saturday against the Yankees.
Ironically, he’s played in 3 MLB games this season. Each of them has involved the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees!
Next. Donaldson's rehab video may hinder more than help. dark
Whether Billy McKinney will turn into a starting outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays or he turns into an afterthought in the major leagues, his journey has been impressive to watch, and I’m curious where the Blue Jays will trade him in 2020 with a highly-touted infielder for pitching as they compete for the playoffs!