Yankees top 30 prospects Part 2; a longer look

No. 18 Hoy Jun Park

Considered to be one of the better prospects of the Yankees’ 2014 International signing spree, Park has never lived up to the expectations.

After a down year in 2016, Park recuperated some of that stock with a solid year in Low-A Charleston and earned himself a promotion to High-A Tampa upon the trade of Jorge Mateo at the deadline.

The Yankees liked Park’s upside as a lefty shortstop with some pop when they signed him. He is inconsistent defensively, but he has a good arm and the tools to figure it out.

After initially disappointing upon his promotion to Charleston in 2016, he figured it out in 2017. Hopefully by now with some experience in Tampa, he excels there next year. Like some of the aforementioned middle infielders, Park likely never plays for the Yankees.

However, with a high upside and still only 21, Park has a slight chance to be the top prospect the Yankees once thought he would be.

No. 17 Jake Cave

Already 25, Cave has suffered the sad fate of falling out of relevance due to being thoroughly blocked at his position. Possibly major league ready for a couple of seasons already, Cave had to start last season in Double-A Trenton due to the gut of outfielders the Yankees have.

Cave has hit for average at every level of the minors and has solid pop. His glove is pretty good, although not spectacular.

After Aaron Hicks got injured in June, the Yankees called up Mason Williams, and Cave returned to Triple-A Scranton. Through the rest of the season, Cave went deep 15 times in addition to the five he had already hit in Trenton.

Barring injury, it’s hard to see Cave getting major league playing time. However, with the capability to man centerfield, Cave could get his shot if Hicks goes down (which he probably will considering the amount of muscle he put on this season and his propensity for getting injured).

No. 16 Thairo Estrada

Relatively unknown before last season, Estrada was invited to the Yankees’ big league camp and proceeded to destroy pitching in his very limited games there.

Estrada’s OPS was an outstanding 1.857. That was higher than both Greg Bird and Gleyber Torres, the offensive heroes of Spring Training 2017. Estrada made a name for himself by continuing his success in a full season in Double-A Trenton.

In 122 games, Estrada hit .301 with a .353 OBP. He had a stable 6.4 walk rate and a low 10.4 percent K rate but has limited pop and upside.

However, Estrada has good speed and a high contact bat. Most scouts see him as a potential utility player with maybe the possibility to develop some more power as he matures.

Because of other players such as Jorge Mateo, and Gleyber Torres, Estrada had to move around the field quite a bit. Luckily, he is more than capable of playing both second base and shortstop. He has a pretty good glove and MLB.com’s scouts give him plus grades for both fielding and his arm.

Estrada will probably start the year in Scranton and does have a chance to be a September call-up if he continues to hit minor league pitching. Keep in mind, Estrada is still only 21 and is already working his way up to Scranton.

As such Estrada does have a chance to play for the Yankees further down the road, at least this year, his success has earned him a non-roster invite to Spring Training.