BRADENTON, Fla. – For Nick Yorke, spring training meant adding another glove to play another position for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Where he added a first baseman’s mitt to his collection last year, a new one was needed to handle the hot corner this year.
Selected 17th overall as a shortstop by the Boston Red Sox in 2020, Yorke has played every position but pitcher and catcher as a professional. He has learned to embrace the value of versatility in a way some bonus babies don’t, believing it’s his best way to make an impact.
“Honestly, I don’t think being a first-rounder has anything to do with it,” Yorke said. “I grew up being a dirtbag ballplayer. I don’t care where I play. I just want to play. That’s the way I play. I’ve been doing it my whole life. I’m just a ballplayer. That’s all I want to be known as.”
Nick Yorke blows this one open!
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The 6-foot, 220-pound Yorke is adjusting to third base, a position he’s played in as many Grapefruit League games this spring (four) as he has in the majors and minors combined. He’s working with infield coach Chris Truby to acclimate to the difference in spins coming off the bat and learning to go back on balls down the line instead of charging them like a middle infielder.
“In the middle, you don’t have to retreat on the ball that often,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly, a middle infielder who played every position in his nine-year major league career. “Third base, you have to learn how to go north and south and go at 45-degree angles a little bit quicker and how to react. And when you do go, trust yourself. You might get halfway through and realize it was the wrong way to go – you should’ve (gone) the other way – and keep going. Learning through experience. The failure is key and how we learn how to make those adjustments.”
The biggest adjustments for Yorke have come this offseason, when he emphasized his conditioning to get stronger and leaner and changed some of the mechanics on his swing. One of his former hitting coaches noticed that Yorke’s shoulders were tight and he wasn’t getting his body turned at the point of contact, causing him to hit more ground balls.
“I wasn’t getting to the baseball as well as I could,” said Yorke, 23. “Now that I’m in a more relaxed spot, I get that natural whip that I’ve been looking for for a while. It’s feeling solid.”
The results have been noticeable, as Yorke is batting .304/.385/.522 and is coming off a game with a three-run home run against the Red Sox on Sunday at LECOM Park. Yorke has had success against his former team, recording four hits with exit velocities of 100 mph or better this spring.
“It feels great,” Yorke said. “I think it feels great to hit the cover off the ball any time you do it. Doesn’t matter who it’s against.”
After making his major league debut in mid-September 2024, when he batted .216 (8 for 37) with two homers and five RBIs in 16 games, Yorke didn’t make the Opening Day roster last year. He spent the majority of last season at Triple-A Indianapolis, slashing .287/.348/.406 with 21 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 59 RBIs in 103 games.
Yorke spent 22 games with the Pirates, batting .232 (16 for 61) with three doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. But the 23-year-old realized that he needed to increase his strength if he wanted to stick in the majors.
“When I was in the big leagues last year, I’m just walking around the clubhouse and I’m the smallest guy,” Yorke said. “Everyone, all the big leaguers, they’re all jacked. Strong, athletic, able to steal bags, hit the ball hard. So, it made me revamp and just try to get as strong as possible, as fast as possible. I felt like I did a good job of that this offseason. Obviously want to continue getting better at that kind of stuff.”
Yorke credits an offseason workout routine focusing on agility and sprinting that has caused him to feel more athletic, in the batter’s box, on the basepaths and at any position. And he’s willing to play anywhere and everywhere the Pirates ask him.
“Just going back to just trying to find the best version of yourself,” Yorke said. “That’s what I’m trying to do to make a team.”