Billy McKinney readying himself for a September Yankees call up

Since being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 1, Yankees outfield prospect Billy McKinney has been on a tear.

If you remember back to this past Spring Training, one of the unfamiliar faces that made a splash at Yankees camp was 22-year-old outfielder, Billy McKinney. After batting .400 with three long balls, McKinney was sent to Double-A Trenton to continue plying his trade.

Those initial results failed to carry over to the start of the minor league season — and it wasn’t until June 13 when the Texas native really began to square up the ball with authority. Over the next 17 days, McKinney raised his average from .206 to .250.

In keeping with a recent organizational trend — promoting stalled prospects (Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge), McKinney soon got the bump to Triple-A where he took off like a rocket.

Since donning a RailRiders uni on July 1, the Yankees’ No. 24 prospect is slashing .319/.356/.596 with 10 home runs, 31 RBI and three triples in 166 at-bats.

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Being named an International League Player of the Week twice during the month of July has once again put McKinney back on the path to the big leagues. Though he has yet to be added to the Yankees’ 40-man roster, his addition come September makes sense so that the club can get a read on where he stands for the future.

Known as an aggressive hitter with big league bat speed, McKinney would do well to work deeper into counts, as his 83:38 K:BB ratio this season can attest. Further evidence of this comes in the form of 11 of his 16 long balls in 2017 coming with two pitches or less in the count.

Having already amassed a career-high 26 doubles, McKinney has done a better job than in years past of peppering all fields with power. Scouts suggest the former 2013 first round pick has added a bit of loft to his swing. A 43.8 percent fly ball rate versus 34.7 percent ground ball rate at Scranton reflects as much.

Obviously, by now we all know that the Yankees’ system is stacked with outfield talent. But McKinney has world-class agility (plays all three outfield spots with ease), an absolute hose (has eight assists in ’17) and a blatant disregard for throwing his body into an outfield wall.

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With a left-handed swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium and a pending Rule 5 decision to be made, McKinney has set himself up for continued success. I for one hope it’s with the Yankees, but at the very least, he now carries a good amount of trade value.

Since being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 1, Yankees outfield prospect Billy McKinney has been on a tear.

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