Red Sox Draft High School Second Baseman Nick Yorke 17th Overall
BOSTON (CBS) --With their first pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, the Red Sox took high school second baseman Nick Yorke out of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, CA,. Yorke was the 17th overall selection Wednesday night.
The 18-year-old Yorke is a six-foot, 195-pound right-handed hitter who swings a big bat, and believes he'll be a good fit in the Boston organization. He said he is a blue-collar player and was at baseball practice when he was drafted, something that will certainly fit in well with Red Sox fans.
"Historically they're great with younger hitters, and it's a blue-collar type program. I'm kind of that way," he said on a Zoom call after being drafted. "We have the garage set up with weight equipment and I was at baseball practice when I was drafted. So it's really excited just because our ways of playing fit each other perfectly."
Yorke said he learned to play ball from his mother, Robyn, who was an All-American softball player at Fresno State.
He hit .370 as a freshman at Archbishop Mitty, and then combined to hit .503 (97-for-193) in his final three seasons in high school. He played in only five games before the 2020 season was suspended, going 8-for-15 (.533) with two home runs. In 363 career plate appearances, Yorke drew 53 walks and struck out only 26 times.
The selection was met with some criticism after the Red Sox made the pick -- Chaim Bloom's first as Chief Baseball Operator in Boston. Yorke was ranked the 139th ranked prospect heading into the draft, but Bloom said that would have been much different had the 2020 season played out.
"We love this kid's bat -- we think he has a chance to be a special bat," Bloom said Wednesday night. "We feel if the spring had gotten to play out the way it would have in a normal year, the public perception of him would have been a lot different."
The Red Sox and Yorke are expected to agree to a deal for less than what the 17th overall pick usually signs for, according to The Boston Globe's Alex Speier. That should allow Boston to be a little more aggressive with their three remaining picks in the 2020 draft. Boston has just three more selections after losing their second-round pick as punishment for the team's 2018 video replay scandal: No. 89 (third round), No. 118 (fourth round) and No. 148 (fifth round).
The 2020 MLB Draft will conclude on Thursday, with Round 2 beginning at 5 p.m.
