Nicholas Anthony Yorke (born April 2, 2002) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He was selected 17th overall by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

and was traded to the Pirates in 2024, making his debut the same year.

Amateur career

Yorke attended

Archbishop Mitty High School Archbishop Mitty High School affectionately known as Mitty by its staff, students and alumni is a private Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, United States. The school is named for John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of S ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, where he played

. He started his high school career as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, then played as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

following shoulder surgery. In 2019, his junior year, he was named to ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' All-Bay Area Team. Yorke completed his high school career with a .457

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 134

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

s, 100

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

s, and 77 RBI through 94 games. Yorke had committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

The

selected Yorke with the 17th overall pick of the

, with

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports colum ...

listing him as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

. He signed with the Red Sox on July 7, 2020, for a $2.7 million bonus. During the shortened 2020 season, the Red Sox added Yorke to their pool of reserve players on September 17. Although the minor league season was cancelled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he was invited to participate in the Red Sox' fall instructional league. Following the 2020 season, Yorke was ranked by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' as the Red Sox' ninth best prospect. In 2021, Yorke was a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to Red Sox

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. He began the 2021 season with the

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, Virginia, Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Car ...

. After hitting .323 with 10 home runs, 47 RBI, and 11 stolen bases in 19 attempts over 76 games for Salem, Yorke was promoted to the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

in the second half of August."Nick Yorke,"
Baseball Reference. Over 21 games with Greenville to end the season, he batted .333 with four home runs and 15 RBI. Yorke returned to Greenville to start the 2022 season. In May 2022, he was ranked 33rd in the list of baseball's top 100 prospects by ''Baseball America''. Yorke played in 80 games for Greenville, hitting .232/.303/.365 with 11 home runs, 45 RBI, and eight stolen bases in 12 attempts. After the season, he was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. Yorke spent the 2023 season with the Double-A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

, slashing .268/.350/.435 with 13 home runs, 61 RBI, and 18 stolen bases across 110 games. Yorke returned to Portland to being the 2024 season, ranked as the Red Sox' number eight minor-league prospect by ''Baseball America''. In June, Yorke was promoted to the Triple-A

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. Th ...

, with whom he hit .310/.408/.490 with six home runs, 19 RBI, and six stolen bases over 38 games.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 29, 2024, the Red Sox traded Yorke to the

for pitcher

Quinn Priester Charles Quinn Priester (born September 15, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox. He was selected ...

. In 40 games for the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

, he slashed .355/.431/.507 with two home runs, 26 RBI, and seven stolen bases. On September 16, Yorke was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his debut that day, starting at second base and going 0-for-3. In 11 appearances for the Pirates during his rookie campaign, Yorke batted .216/.286/.378 with two home runs, five RBI, and two stolen bases. Yorke was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the 2025 season.

Personal

Nick's brothers, Zach and Joe, also play baseball. Zach is currently a first baseman for the

Grand Canyon Antelopes The Grand Canyon Antelopes (more commonly referred to as the Lopes) are the 20 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the ...

, and Joe played for the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

and

Cal Poly Mustangs The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty teams and competes in NCAA D ...

References

External links

SoxProspects.comPerfect Game profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Nick 2002 births Living people Archbishop Mitty High School alumni Baseball players from Newport Beach, California Baseball players from San Jose, California Greenville Drive players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball second basemen Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Sea Dogs players Salem Red Sox players Scottsdale Scorpions players Worcester Red Sox players 21st-century American sportsmen