Almonte to make first 2014 start today

Yankees OF Prospect Zoilo Almonte will make his first 2014 start today, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports.

Almonte, who was called up to the majors from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier this week, will replace everyday CF Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup, as #22 has come down with an apparent illness. 

Almonte will not be playing Center, however, as it will be occupied by Brett Gardner with the youngster playing Left.

So far this season, Zoilo has hit pretty well with the Railriders, collecting a solid .273 average with 6 home runs and 24 RBI.

In the Bombers 1-0 win over the Mets Thursday night, Almonte pinch hit to lead off the top of the eighth, striking out on a 3-2 pitch. Besides that, #24 also appeared in 34 big league games last year, hitting a decent .274 in 106 at-bats.

To go along with those numbers, the guy also had a homer and four stolen bases, meaning that he does have a lot of different qualities. 

Now overall, he doesn't seem to be amazing at one particular aspect, but since he does bring a little bit of everything to the table I think calling him up was a good decision. Bringing in some more pitching instead wouldn't have hurt, but considering that offense is still half the game I guess it really wasn't that big of a deal.