Enthusiastic Yorke ready to attack second pro season with 'pure enjoyment'

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Remember when Nick Yorke was the new guy at Major League camp, all of 18 years old, and just eight months removed from graduating from high school?

Yorke remembers the rush he felt a year ago, and how crazy it all was.

Those butterflies were powerful, but not overwhelming. Now he can chuckle about it with the maturity of someone who knows he belongs.

“I come in and my first live at-bat was against Matt Barnes,” Yorke said from Minor League Spring Training on Tuesday. “Like, it’s only easier from there. It was good. I’m very fortunate. I pretty much know every single person throughout every single level now just from being at camp last year and being here this year. Now I’ll just keep building, keep working, and get ready for the season.”

Rated as the Red Sox’s No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Yorke is ready to build off a big first pro season. He overcame a slow start and was the best hitter in the farm system, slashing .325/.412/.516 with 20 doubles, five triples and 14 homers for Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville.

As impressive as that rookie campaign was, there is something different about Yorke a year later. He was the first player Red Sox manager Alex Cora mentioned on Monday when asked which prospects were catching his eye.

“Nick, actually, caught my eye,” said Cora. “You see it. He’s a different kid.”

Cora could have been talking about Yorke’s physical appearance, which is even more chiseled than last year, when he followed the team’s instructions to lose some weight and took it even further than they asked, shedding 25 pounds.

Yorke thinks Cora might have been talking about his enthusiasm, which he is more comfortable showing as he embarks on his second year as a professional baseball player.

“I pride myself on having fun,” Yorke said. “I think there are [few] people that have more fun than me on a baseball field, so just day in and day out, I’m going to come with a big smile on my face. I hope it’s for that reason, pure enjoyment on a baseball field.”

• 'Big chip on shoulder' to awards for Yorke

If Yorke had his way, he would probably spend 24/7 at the field.

The Red Sox had a winter warm-up camp for prospects in January, and Yorke stayed in Fort Myers and continued to work out until Spring Training for Minor Leaguers officially started this week.

“Oh, it’s awesome. I’ve been here for a while,” Yorke said. “I’ve been down here since January so it’s just, come in every day and get your work done, and we’ve got all the guys here now so it’s been good.”

With Marcelo Mayer, the No. 4 pick in last year’s Draft and Boston's No. 1 prospect, billed as the team’s shortstop of the future, Yorke will look to deepen his roots at second base. That is the position he learned how to play last season and the one the Red Sox would like him to stay at for many years.

Mayer and Yorke -- a couple of California kids drafted by the Sox in back-to-back years -- could be a stellar double-play combination for a long time if things go as planned.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully playing with him for the next 15 years,” Yorke said. “Yeah, we played against each other one time when we were younger back in high school, but we didn’t know each other very well. Playing with him now, we’re in a lot of groups together, we’re in the same hotel together, we’re spending a lot of time together. He’s a special player, so it’s been a lot of fun to work with him.”

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Yorke has a clear focus for what he needs to do to get to the next level at second base.

“One of the big focuses for me was turning double plays. Just working out reps after reps after reps,” said Yorke. “Last year was pretty much my first year playing second base, so getting the footwork down and getting the angles down, it’s been a lot of work but it’s the work that needs to be done.”

It doesn’t sound as if Yorke gave himself much of an offseason.

“I’m from California, so the weather is perfect there in the winter. I was at my high school every day working on the field, so it was great,” Yorke said.

And in case you thought Yorke kept his bat at the playing field, he has news for you.

“I bring a bat to the hotel room,” Yorke said. “I bring a bat everywhere. I’m doing dry work in the mirror in the hotel, all that stuff.”

It seems like a long time ago the Red Sox stunned the “experts” by making Yorke the 17th overall pick in the 2020 Draft. No pundit had him going that high 21 months ago. But nobody is selling Yorke short anymore.

“I felt super underrated coming into the Draft, coming [into] the season, I was overlooked by everyone, so I go in and do my thing,” said Yorke. “I’ve done it my whole life, so I’m going to keep doing it.”

And you’ll hardly ever see him do it without a smile on his face.