Open Now
Open Now
Watch now

Estevan Florial reemerging as prized Yankees prospect

Estevan Florial is hitting like a top prospect again.

Aaron Boone called outfield prospect Estevan Florial “a five-tool” player, but a sixth tool — his health — has allowed him to get off to a hot start to the minor league season.

The 23-year-old entered Saturday batting 5-for-15 with two doubles and three home runs in four games with Double-A Somerset, including a two-homer game Friday night. It has the attention of Boone, who is looking forward to seeing what Florial can do with a full season after his last three were derailed by injuries — a broken hamate bone in 2018 and a wrist fracture in 2019 — and the pandemic last year.

“He’s a beloved guy in that room and has a lot of people in the organization and players that are really pulling for him and know what his ceiling is, know how good he can be, know what the tools suggest,” Boone said, noting that Florial has been with the Yankeess in big-league camp each spring since 2018. “One of the big issues for Flo is just the interruption in seasons that he’s had from some freak injuries. Also COVID hitting last year, not being able to have a normal season.

Estevan Florial
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

“So I’m excited for him to go out there and hopefully just have a healthy, full minor league season where he’s able to really, in a lot of ways, reestablish what the industry and certainly what we feel like he’s capable of doing. But it is exciting to see him get off to the kind of start he has.”

As for what, exactly, that ceiling is for the former Top-50 prospect in baseball?

“He’s a five-tool. He’s an All-Star-caliber talent,” Boone said. “A guy that can legitimately play center field, fly, power to all fields. He certainly has all the tools to be a special player. It’s about putting those together and now having it show up in performance and consistency.”

Florial, who made his MLB debut last season with a one-game call-up in August, entered this season ranked the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect, per MLB.com.

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Greg Joyce

Follow us on Google News