Yankees: Predicting what NYY will do with open 40-man roster spot

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ROCHESTER, NEW YORK – MAY 18: Hoy Jun Park #24 of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders stands at second base during the first inning against the Rochester Red Wings at Frontier Field on May 18, 2021 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images) /

Yankees 40-Man Roster Option: Hoy Jun Park

It’s fair if you’ve never considered Hoy Jun Park as anything more than a depth option for the Yankees previously, but the 2014 international signing has reached another level as a 25-year-old at Triple-A this year, too.

If you haven’t been to Scranton yet, we highly recommend it.

Park, who roves between second and shortstop, was an intriguing name before Gleyber Torres left Thursday’s game with a stiff lower back. After that departure, alarm bells went off, even as Aaron Boone tried to minimize his pain in the postgame.

For a team that could use an offensive spark and a lesson in situational hitting, Park would seem to be a perfectly patient addition. So far this season, in the midst of the hottest streak of his career, he’s hitting .321 with six homers, 22 RBI, seven stolen bases, a remarkable .465 OBP and a 1.034 OPS. Not a power hitter! And yet…here we are. He’s out-powering all the more vaunted Yankees hitters.

The Yanks could absolutely use a versatile infield option whose speed, peskiness and patience are his calling cards. Now that well-above-average power and extra-base skills have been added to the plate, we’re impatiently waiting for Park to arrive and take up this 40-man spot.

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