What to Expect From Yankees' Prospect Estevan Florial This Season

When it comes to Yankees prospects with the potential to thrive at the big-league level, outfielder Estevan Florial has as much upside as any position player in the organization.

With a propensity to strikeout far too often, however, Florial's spot on New York's list of top prospects has steadily declined since he was ranked first overall back in 2018. The tools are there, but the production is not. 

Florial, 23, will start the 2021 season with New York's new Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots. On Monday, Yankees senior director of player development, Kevin Reese, provided some context as to why New York made the decision to start Florial at that level.

"There were a lot of people in our organization that wanted him to start in Triple-A," Reese said. "He did have a really nice alternate site season last year in our intrasquad games and he performed pretty well against the Phillies up there as well [this spring]. Just kind of taking a step back from alternative site world, he had played only I think one game in Double-A and so we just kind of wanted to shift gears back to what would have been normal."

The outfielder, along with countless ballplayers across the nation, missed out on a minor league season this past year due to the pandemic. For Florial, the lost season comes after multiple years where he's missed time due to injuries, holding him back from the at-bats that he needs and has desperately coveted. 

Instead of continuing to develop with in-game experience in 2020, Florial was relegated to the alternate site, competing against his teammates. At one point last summer, Florial did make his MLB debut, but his stint with the big-league club was short-lived. After going 1-for-3 on August 28, against the Mets, Florial returned to the alternate site where he finished out the remainder of the season.

It's the swings and misses that cast a shadow over Florial's raw talent. He's got the speed and power to be a 30-30 type player, but hasn't proven that he's capable of producing against big-league pitching.

Even during summer camp before last year's shortened season began, Florial showcased his plus arm in the outfield, his explosiveness on defense and on the base paths along with his high-upside power in batting practice. When he stepped into the box to face some of New York's best arms, however, hard contact was a bit of a rarity.

Even if he's struggled to take that next step over the last few years, members of this organization that have overseen Florial's development still believe the outfielder has untapped potential that will play in the Majors. 

"We love Flo. We think he's got a chance to be a special player," manager Aaron Boone said last July. "Still love the person and the tools and the potential. There's no question that his ceiling remains incredibly high and I think there's a lot of value to him being out here."

Reese added on Monday that Florial falls in the category of prospects that will hit the ground running this spring. If he's able to perform well, there's a chance Florial can factor in both at Triple-A and in the big leagues at some point in 2021.

Until then, as the minor league season gets underway on Tuesday, keep an eye on Florial's strikeout rate. That's an area of his game that Florial understands he needs to improve upon.

"My strikeout rate is high, that's something we have to keep working on," Florial explained last year during summer camp. "I have to get [my chase percentage] down a bit. I have been working with the hitting coaches to know how to attack the pitcher and have better strike zone discipline."

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