A pair of Boston Red Sox prospects have made names for themselves in 2021.
MLB.com on Friday named Nick Yorke and Brandon Walter as the Red Sox’s Prospects of the Year for 2021. Yorke and Walter both played well enough for Low-A Salem to earn promotions to High-A Greenville this season and acclaim as potential big leaguers.
Yorke participated in Red Sox spring training and received praise from manager Alex Cora for his performances. His subsequent success came as little surprise to those who follow Boston’s farm system closely.
“In his pro debut, the surprise 2020 first-round pick out of a California high school slashed .325/.412/.516 — including .361/.450/.598 after a slow first month — with 14 homers and 13 steals in 97 games between Low-A and High-A at age 19,” MLB.com wrote about Yorke. “He topped the Low-A East in batting (.323) and OPS (.913).”
Walter, on the other hand, entered the season with little fanfare but quietly went about pitching himself onto the radar of those farm watchers.
“A 26th-round pick out of Delaware as a redshirt junior in 2019, he broke out this year by going 5-4 with a 2.92 ERA, .199 opponents’ batting average and a 132/20 K/BB ratio in 25 games (14 starts) between Low-A and High-A,” MLB.com wrote about Walter.
If Yorke and Walter continue developing over the offseason, there’s no reason they shouldn’t make noise in the higher levels of the minor leagues and move closer toward achieving their big-league dreams.
