Estevan Florial

Estevan Haniel Florial

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut August 28, 2020

• Born November 25, 1997 in Barahona, Barahona D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Estevan Florial reached the major leagues in 2020.

Florial was signed by the New York Yankees before the 2015 season as a 17-year-old and played that first season with the DSL Yankees 1, hitting .313/.394/.527 in 57 games. After that excellent debut, he was moved to the United States in 2016 and played for three different teams. He began the year with the Pulaski Yankees of the Appalachian League, but before the season was out he had also seen some action with the Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League and the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League. In 67 games, he hit .227/.312/.371 with 8 homers and 30 RBIs. He then had a breakthrough season with Charleston and Tampa in 2017, where he hit .298/.372/.479 in 110 games, with 23 doubles, 7 triples and 13 homers. He scored 77 runs and drove in 57 while stealing 23 bases and being caught 8 times. The main negative was 148 strikeouts, but he did draw 50 walks, a good total for such a young hitter with power. His performance earned him a spot on the World Team for the 2017 Futures Game, played in Miami, FL and an invitation to spring training by the Yankees in 2018. He represented Haiti in the game, and was often listed as being born in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, but in fact was born to a Haitian family in the Dominican Republic.

Prior to the 2018 season, Baseball America ranked him the #38 prospect in baseball. However, an injury limited to 75 games with the Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League that season, in addition to a couple of rehabilitation assignments in the Gulf Coast League. With Tampa, he hit .255/.354/.361. In 2019, he again missed time, playing 74 games with Tampa and hitting just .237/.297/.383, as his power picked up again but his OBP caved. He was on the Yankees' team at the alternative training camp at the start of the 2020 season, with the minor leagues shut down, and was called up on August 28th for a doubleheader against the New York Mets. In his debut, he went 1 for 3 with a couple of strikeouts as the starting centerfielder in the first game. He had cups of coffee with the Yankees in four consecutive seasons, from 2020 to 2023, but not appearing in more than 19 games in any one season. In 48 games over that four-year span, he hit .209 with 1 homer and 11 RBIs. On December 26, as it was clear that he would never get a shot at earning a regular job with the Bronx Bombers, he was traded to the Cleveland Guardians in return for P Cody Morris.

Related Sites

• Estevan Florial on mlb.com
• BR Minors page