Pirates Prospect Reacts to MLB Opportunity

Yorke joined the Pirates in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, which sent right-handed starting pitcherQuinn Priester the other way on July 29, 2024.

He started out with Indianapolis, slashing .355/.431/.507 with an OPS of .938 in 40 games, before earning his first shot at the MLB level on Sept. 16 with the Pirates.

Yorke played in 11 games, posted eight hits in 37 at-bats, batting .216, added four walks for a .286 on-base percentage, slugged .378 and hit two home runs and two RBIs.

The clubhouse Yorke walked into on Sept. 2 ahead of the series opener vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park was one that was more familiar to him than last season.

Only eight players on the Pirates 28-man roster hadn't played at Triple-A this season, including right-handed pitchers in Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and Dennis Santana, plus outfielders in Oneil Cruz, Alexander Canario, Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham and Bryan Reynolds.

The other 20 players, including Yorke have played in Indianapolis and the experience he had playing with them this season, along with the time in Spring Training, makes for a great clubhouse to join.

“Yeah it’s great," Yorke said. "I can just tell the difference in clubhouse just from walking in last year to this year. People welcome you with open arms and you build relationships with them in the past. So to be able to see all those familiar faces again has been a lot of fun.”

Yorke has played the most this season at second base, with 57 starts, but has served more as a utility player than a regular infielder. He started 22 games in right field, 13 games as designated hitter, seven games and four starts in left field and five starts at first base.

He made his first MLB start and appearance at second base vs. the Dodgers, taking over from Spencer Horwitz and hitting seventh in the lineup.

Yorke spent more time at first base with Indianapolis the past few weeks and even had his brother's first base mitt, before eventually getting his own.

He's settled in at the position and is ready to play wherever he's needed, just like he did when he was in his travel ball and high school playing days.

“I feel great over there," Yorke said. "Yeah, I feel like I didn’t have a bottom line of how good I was going to be because I’ve never played it before. So, I would just say getting comfortable with the glove and the angles of the position and just getting the reps has been the biggest part.”

Pirates manager Don Kelly was happy to have Yorke back with him for the end of this season and praised him for his work during the season to get back to his best, after hitting just .212 in April.

Kelly also related with Yorke about the struggles of not getting that call-up when you're hoping for it as a player and that he hopes Yorke continues to improve each and every day.

"Something that I learned through my career and it's hard to go through is that I truly believe everything happens for a reason." Kelly said. "How you work through that and how you learn something about yourself. I was able to have a quick conversation with Nick today and he acknowledged he was working through that and finding a way to get better.

"Hopefully that pays dividends in the long-term. This game is so hard. It's not like you're never gonna be in a spot where you're struggling a little bit. You're gonna have slumps. You're gonna have times where you're not feeling your best. How do you lean into those moments that you've learned from in the past to continue to work and continue to grind to get better." 

The Pirates only have 23 games remaining before the inevitable end to their season, with just 25 days until the final contest vs. the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Sept. 28.

Yorke wants to seize the moment that he has now, build open his experience from last year and prove that he has what it takes as an everyday player in the MLB.

“Greatly. My goal is to be a major leaguer, not a Triple-A baseball player," Yorke said. "So I’m just going to do whatever I can to make it stick.”