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Boston Red Sox Prospects: Who will make their MLB debut in 2022?

By Hunter Noll

BOSTON, MA - JULY 28: Jarren Duran #40 of the Boston Red Sox follows watches a hit against the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning of game two of a doubleheader at Fenway Park on July 28, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JULY 28: Jarren Duran #40 of the Boston Red Sox follows watches a hit against the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning of game two of a doubleheader at Fenway Park on July 28, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) /
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Boston Red Sox Nick Yorke
FT. MYERS, FL – FEBRUARY 24: Nick Yorke #80 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during the MGM Sox at Sundown spring training team night workout on February 24, 2021 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

Red Sox second base prospect Nick Yorke

I heavily considered not putting Nick Yorke on this list. He spent the heavy majority of his 2021 season in Low-A. However, Yorke did get some work in at High-A and absolutely crushed it there.

Overall between the two levels, Yorke slashed .325/.412/.516 with 20 doubles, five triples, and 14 home runs. The right-handed hitter drove in 62 runs and scored 76 more, stealing 13 bases. Even the defense was phenomenal. After committing eight errors in the first month of the season, he had just one more the rest of the year, finish with nine.

The reason this one seems odd is because Yorke has just the 2021 season under his belt. He’s going to be 20 for the entire 2022 season and has 97 games (378 at-bats) in the minors. That’s not a lot of experience. And with only 21 games in High-A, most would assume he’s going to be starting there.

Then I thought about it though. Yes, Yorke could definitely start in High-A. I could also see them throwing him into the Double-A fire immediately though. And even if he does start in High-A, it took take less than a full month of hot hitting before he gets moved up.

From there, Yorke is suddenly a step away. He’s not on the 40-man roster but there aren’t that many people that could be ahead of him on the list.

And yes, you could say that Boston doesn’t want to rush him. Which could absolutely be their strategy in this scenario. However, you could also look at it the other way. They need a second baseman, and Yorke was one of the best hitters in the entire minors last season – no matter what team we’re talking about. If he keeps doing that, why not give him a chance?

It still feels very unlikely. But I couldn’t ignore him because I do honestly think that there’s a chance we see Nick Yorke in the Majors in 2022. Is it a very outside chance? Yes, absolutely. But it’s still a shot. With that in mind, he gets a “cold” temperature rating – but hey, he’s still getting a rating.

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