Next Baby Bomber to Watch: Thairo Estrada

Two Baby Bombers to watch in one day, boy is it your lucky day or what? I kid, a little bit anyway, but really I am just so excited over the future of this Yankees team and farm system. I have salivated for years at the thought of the likes of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird knocking bombs over the wall while Luis Severino and others pitched and closed out those games and now that those dreams have come to fruition it’s time to keep moving forward. It is time to keep looking towards the future as the second wave of reinforcements is coming for the Bronx Bombers, and one of those such players is named Thairo Estrada.

Estrada is likely to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft but with that not set in stone let’s take a look at the decision that is looming and the man that it affects for the Yankees. Estrada was signed out of Venezuela back in 2013 and the infielder made his debut at just 17-years old. Now Estrada is 21-years old and is coming off his first All-Star Game appearance for the Double-A Trenton Thunder, and not a moment too soon for Estrada either.

Estrada is considered to be a contact hitter with little power, although he is a strong guy because of all the different gloves that he carries around. Estrada has played second base, short stop and third base during his tenure with the Yankees and the small right-hander, Estrada stands just 5’11” and 185 lbs., is already drawing comparisons to Ronald Torreyes. Estrada is a career .287/.347/.392 hitter with eight career home runs who doesn’t take a lot of walks but he doesn’t strike out a ton either. Again, he is considered to be a contact hitter.

Estrada, like Nick Solak, will also face an uphill climb to the Major Leagues with the amount of youth, talent and depth the Yankees already have in the middle infield. It would totally be within the realm of possibilities to see Estrada traded this offseason since the Yankees already have a super utility player in Tyler Wade that the team is pretty high on but at the same time Wade could easily be traded leaving the door open for Solak or Estrada. The Yankees have options and that’s what a deep and talented farm system can do for a team. It is a sight for sore eyes and it’s been a long time coming and no one is happier than I am about it, except maybe the Steinbrenner family of course.