Red Sox first-round draft pick Nick Yorke already making an impression in Pawtucket
It was eye-opening when Red Sox draftee Nick Yorke faced hard-throwing pitcher Bryan Mata in his first week in Pawtucket.
It took exactly one pitch from hard-throwing righthander Bryan Mata at the Red Sox alternate site in Pawtucket to convince Nick Yorke — the team’s 2020 first-round pick — that he’d entered a new realm of competition.
“It was completely different. I remember that first pitch he threw me, he threw for a ball, but I was like, ‘I didn’t know a ball could move like that,’ ” Yorke said of the mid- to high-90s two-seam fastballs thrown by Mata in comparison with what he’d faced in high school. “A 10-mile-per-hour difference is a lot.”
Evidently, Yorke is a quick study.
Though Mata was the first pitcher he’d faced in a game since his high school season ended in March, and despite the fact that the intrasquad plate appearance represented the first game competition of his professional career, Yorke negotiated a walk and later singled off the Red Sox’ top pitching prospect.
One day later, the 18-year-old walked again and doubled off lefty Matt Hall. And on Tuesday, Yorke doubled to the opposite field off a slider from righthander Seth Blair in his first at-bat to reach in his fifth straight plate appearance before finally being retired on a groundout to second in his final at-bat.
As impressive as those early results have been, the setting has been more important. Yorke was added to the Red Sox' 60-player pool last Thursday, affording him an opportunity to get his career underway by working with the team’s players and coaches. The chance to compete against and get feedback from players already has offered considerable value.
“It’s amazing,” Yorke said of working with more experienced players. “They’re all so welcoming and I’ve just tried to be a sponge. They’re really good about letting me in and showing me the ropes, so I’ve had a great time with them, too.”
Yorke is the only teenager at the site, a fact that wasn’t lost on José Peraza when he greeted Yorke at second base following a double.
“He was shocked that I was 18,” Yorke relayed. “We were just kind of talking back and forth, bickering at each other. It was fun.”
Such kidding, however, belies the fact that Yorke has conducted himself in an impressive fashion that belies his youth.
“He’s handled himself like a pro. Certainly he has the offensive upside. His profile has stood out here to our coaches,” said Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett. “He’s been really mature and he’s handled himself with a quiet confidence, coming up here amongst older players.”