WORCESTER — After a season and a half with Double A Portland, Nick Yorke is ready to show the International League what he can do.
Yorke is currently ranked by Baseball America as the No. 8 prospect and by SoxProspects.com as the No. 11 prospect in Boston’s farm system. He was promoted to Triple A Worcester on Wednesday and thrown right into the lineup, batting sixth.
He got the message that he was being promoted on Tuesday after a 12-5 Sea Dogs win at Hadlock Field.
‘I was shocked,” Yorke said. “I said, ‘are you serious?’ It was cool. I mean they brought me in the office, [Director of Player Development Brian Abraham] was in there, a bunch of coordinators were in there and they just said to keep, keep working and keep being yourself. Don’t try to be anyone else and just when you come up here, do the same thing.”
Although defense is not the strongest part of Yorke’s game, he made a couple of impressive plays at second base in his WooSox debut, including on a slow roller that he had to shovel out of his glove to first base for the first out of the game. He also collected his first Triple A hit in the fifth and reached on a walk in the third. He also stole a base.
It may seem like Yorke has been in the organization for a while – and he has – but he’s still only 22 years old. His breakout season was his first in professional ball, when he hit .325/.412/.516 between Single A Salem and High A Greenville. He’s been trying to find his way back to that level of production after an injury-riddled year in 2022.
“It means a lot just to be able to get here to where I’m at now. It’s been a long journey,” Yorke said. “There’s been some ups and downs, injuries and stuff like that. So to be here now and being a call away from the bigs is pretty cool. So I’m just excited and super happy to be here.”
Yorke said he still doesn’t feel 100% locked in at the plate this season, but has been able to find ways to produce even when he feels off. He hit .251/.325/.366 and drove in 27 runs in 45 games.
“To be where I’m at now, it’s a good feeling to have, to feel like I’m not locked in and still be able to produce the way I have,” Yorke said. “So now just now coming into a new park, new fans, I just try to find comfortability in the box and get used to the stadium.”
He added that a big area of focus has been cutting down on the strikeouts. He’s managed to improve on the 27% rate he struck out at in 2023, reducing that number to 20.5% through 45 games in Portland.
“I just didn’t put in the ball in play, especially when I was batting forth in Portland,” Yorke said. “I had [Kyle] Teel and Roman [Anthony] on base almost every at-bat it felt like. So just putting the ball in play, trying to make stuff happen, score some runs, all that stuff. Personally, I think I could hit .350 wherever I go, I think I could dominate. So to be able to produce while I’m hitting .250, it’s a good feeling.”
Red Wings, WooSox
It was a back-and-forth affair at Polar Park but the Red Wings had the last say. The top of the order was very productive for the WooSox, with Chase Meidroth and Nick Sogard both going 3-for-5 with a double each. Matthew Lugo tied up the game in the fifth with his first Triple A home run. Nathan Hickey also went deep for the seventh time this season. Mark Contreras had a RBI triple in the second.
Grant Gambrell went 3 2/3 and ran into trouble late in his outing, getting touched for three runs in the fourth. He walked a pair and struck out one. Bailey Horn went 2 1/3 innings and fanned five.
The WooSox threatened down three runs in the ninth, loading the bases for Chase Meidroth with two outs. Meidroth laced foul balls to left and then to right, both of which would have likely tied the game had they been fair. Eventually Rico Garcia got Meidroth to ground out to short to end the game.
Notes
– Nick Sogard was taking ground balls at first base prior to Wednesday’s game, and manager Chad Tracy said that he’ll see time over at first sometime this week.
– Polar Park was buzzing when Jamie Westbrook got his first major-league hit during the Red Sox game on Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m pumped. I did not get to see it yet. I’m gonna look it up here in a bit, but [bench coach Jose Flores] came running down the hall yelling that he got his first knock,” Tracy said. “It’s awesome. Obviously he’s pumped and excited that he got the opportunity to go to the big leagues. I knew he was going to get a chance to get some games and now he’s got that first hit ball and you’ll never be able to take that away from him. So I’m pretty proud of him.”
What’s Next
If the weather allows, Zach Penrod will make his Triple A debut at 12:15 p.m. at Polar Park against the Red Wings.
