The Yankees recalled OF Estevan Florial prior to their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, the team announced.
Florial comes up to the Yanks as Trey Amburgey was placed on the 10-day IL after unfortunately needing to leave just his second MLB game on Sunday night after trying to beat out a ground ball.
Florial is the team’s starting center fielder for Tuesday night. That will be a game-by-game situation, Aaron Boone said on Tuesday, but with righty Aaron Nola on the bump for Philly, the Yankees want the lefty in the lineup.
Florial hasn’t been doing too well in the minors this season, but with the injuries decimating the Yanks’ outfield right now, he’s needed.
And despite his minor league struggles, the Yankees “know what he’s capable of.”
“He’s one of those guys that lights up the room,” Boone said. “I think we’ve all seen his talent and what he’s capable of. Hopefully he can kind of take advantage of this opportunity and give us a little bit of a spark, too. We certainly know what he’s capable of, and hopefully he can go over there and hold it down for us.
“He’s a guy capable of – I don’t care who you throw out there – he’s capable of doing a lot of different things on the baseball field. From power, to speed, getting on base, things like that. I’m hoping that we can get a little shot of that here in the short term, and hopefully eh can take it and run with it a little bit.”
Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar are on the IL, and Aaron Judge is in COVID-19 protocols. So Ryan LaMarre, Brett Gardner and Greg Allen have to hold it down in the meantime with Florial.
In 52 total games between Double- and Triple-A this season, Florial is slashing .214/.315/.404 with 12 homers and 31 RBI.
He made his Major League debut last season, playing just one game against the Mets where he went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts.