One of the batting prospects that Pittsburgh Pirates fans know pretty well is Nick Yorke.
Acquired by trade last August in a deal that sent pitcher Quinn Priester to Boston, Yorke was in the midst of an incredible batting season between Double-A and Triple-A. He looked like the rare diamond-in-the-rough trade that general manager Ben Cherington had successfully pulled off.
A lot has happened since that trade.
Yorke received an end-of-season call-up last season, where in 11 games he went 8-for-37 (.216) with two home runs, five RBI, and two stolen bases. Yorke was seen as a possible option for this year’s Opening Day roster, but he was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis to open the year, where he’s been all season.
Meanwhile, Priester has since been traded a second time. He’s now back in the NL Central with the surging Milwaukee Brewers, where he boasts a 11-2 record and 3.44 ERA. While the trade looks worse for Boston, who needs pitching more than the Pirates do, Pittsburgh needs to show that they got the valuable piece a lot of us believed they did at the time.
Obviously, what happens with other teams and trades should not directly impact what the Pirates do, but the organization did not acquire Yorke to stash him in Triple-A forever.
He needs time in the major leagues. Right about now would probably be a good time.
Yorke is having a heck of a month down in Indianapolis. Since August 1st, Yorke is slashing .338/.357/.450 with seven extra-base hits, a home run, 14 RBI, and 14 runs scored through 18 games.
On Sunday, Yorke went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a pair of RBI, and a stolen base in a 12-9 Indianapolis win. It was just the latest in a month full of highlights for 23-year-old.
He is on a four-game multi-hit streak, dating back to Thursday, when he smacked three hits, including two more doubles, and racked up five RBI in a 16-1 win over Syracuse.
Overall, he’s on a seven-game hitting streak, and has notched at least one hit in all but three of his August games so far. He’s reached base safely in all but two.
Season-wide, Yorke is slashing .284/.341/.405 (.746 OPS) through 97 games in Indianapolis. He has seven home runs, 58 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. Those last two stats are top-three on the team. He’s not a huge power hitter, but he knows how to get on base and can bring in runs.
But it’s not just the bat that is performing well down on the farm, it’s the glove as well.
Yorke, a skilled utility man who has only expanded in that department since his trade to the Pirates organization, only has three errors on the season in nearly 700 innings played on the field.
He has not recorded an error at any position since June 19th, over two months ago.
While that low error rate is impressive enough, it looks even better when you consider all the spots he has played around the field. A second baseman at heart, Yorke has spent the bulk of his time there, but he also has 27 games (210 innings) in the corner outfield spots.
He certainly doesn’t look out of place there, either.
Recently, the club has also started deploying him at first base. The Newport Beach, CA native made his first base debut back on August 15th for Indianapolis, and has since made four total starts there.
Yorke had never played first base in his professional career, even dating back to his days as a member of the Boston Red Sox organization. But, trying to further the versatility of their farmhands is something we have seen the Pirates do several times, including with other Triple-A guys this season alone.
Yorke’s former Indy teammate, Liover Peguero, a middle infielder by trade, was given some reps in the outfield and eventually at first base, with the parent club trying to get him familiar with more positions.
Whether it was the deciding factor in calling him up is unknowable, but Peguero is now with the big league club, and has made several starts at first base this season as the team tries to evaluate whether he is a contributor to the 2026 club.
Maybe the same thing happens with Yorke, who could earn a call-up as soon as the calendar changes.
MLB rosters will expand from 26 to 28 players starting September 1st, and teams can then carry 14 position players. That will open up a one spot for someone like Yorke, who is swinging a hot bat and is ideally in the long term plans of the franchise, to get a bit of a run before the season is out.
He’s still enough that you don’t have to give up on him if he has a poor September in the majors, but he deserves the chance to try. If he has a good final month up here, that will put him in the mix for a job next year.
“Internal improvements” is likely something the Pirates will try to use as an excuse for their lack of spending this winter, but Yorke breaking out and having a big year would help supplement what is still a poor offensive lineup.
Next week, Yorke should be here.
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