With their 19th round pick, 577th
overall, in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft the New York Yankees selected
Alex Junior, an outfielder out of Tennessee Tech University. Alex reminds me a
lot of Brett Gardner in a way, so let’s meet the man who suddenly has a huge
comparison to live up to. This is Meet a Prospect: The Alex Junior Edition.
Junior stands just 5’10” and weighs in at just 188 lbs.
which make the comparisons to Gardner obvious right away, but it isn’t just his
size that leads me to believe that he plays the game like the Yankees current
left fielder. Junior is also a speedy leadoff type hitter that slashed .326/.458/.494
in 250 at-bats this season as a redshirt junior. Junior also walked 49 times this
season with only 50 strikeouts showing a patience and plate discipline that I
also compare to Gardner’s approach at the plate. Junior also plays a good
center field, the position that Gardner came up playing before shifting to left
field when the team acquired Jacoby Ellsbury and Johnny Damon in recent years
to play center.
Junior prioritizes getting on base as an important aspect of
his game, which he explained in an interview with Baseball America before the
Draft:
“I FEEL PRETTY CONFIDENT. MY ONE TRUE GOAL IS JUST TO GET ON
BECAUSE I KNOW I HAVE THE BIG DONKEYS BEHIND ME TO GET ME IN, WHETHER I’M AT
FIRST OR SECOND. I FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO GET ME IN NO MATTER WHERE I
AM. IT SORT OF TAKES OFF THE PRESSURE WITH ME. SOMETIMES THERE’S RUNNERS IN
SCORING POSITION THAT I’VE GOT TO GET IN, BUT FOR THE MOST PART I’M JUST TRYING
TO GET ON SO THOSE GUYS CAN HIT ME AROUND. I KNOW THEY CAN AND I KNOW THEY
WILL.”
Alex has already signed with the club after the draft so let’s
welcome him not only to the Yankees organization, but to the Yankees family as
well. You can follow Alex on Twitter by following @JuniorCloud9.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)