On a day when the Yankees finally acknowledged that one center fielder’s season is over, they called up another with tantalizing tools.
In need of reinforcements with injuries mounting — including Aaron Hicks, who is all but done for the year after undergoing wrist surgery Wednesday — the Yankees called up Estevan Florial on Thursday ahead of their doubleheader against the Blue Jays. Florial started in center field, batting eighth in Game 2.
It remained to be seen how long Florial will be with the Yankees, with Giancarlo Stanton likely to be activated off the injured list Friday, but on Thursday he provided a healthy bat to replace Luke Voit (oblique strain) on the 26-man roster. The former top-100 prospect also offered outfield depth for manager Aaron Boone, who started Brett Gardner in center field for a ninth straight game in the doubleheader opener.
“It would not surprise me at all if he takes this opportunity and is able to impact us. We know what he’s capable of,” Boone said. “I think you know how much we like his ceiling and what his potential is.”
Yankees called up outfield prospect Estevan Florial Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostFlorial got off to a hot start to his season at Double-A Somerset, with four home runs in his first six games, before being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he had cooled off. The 23-year-old, who made his MLB debut last season in a one-game cameo, has had multiple injuries disrupt his development, but was looking forward to his latest chance in the big leagues.
“Stay ready,” Florial said. “It doesn’t matter when they give me the opportunity, [I want to] take advantage of it. Do the best I can, help the team, is the most important thing.”
Hicks, meanwhile, will spend the coming months going through a lengthy rehab process after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a torn sheath in his left wrist.
“It looks like it’s going to cost him the year,” Boone said. “I think it’s that four-to-six month — this is something that obviously, I guess with any injury, but this is definitely not something that you want to rush back from. It’s my understanding that it’ll probably spill into the offseason, his rehab. But I haven’t got a concrete timeline exactly.”






