Why Yankee Fans Should be Excited About Refsynder
Yankess No. 5 prospect Robert Refsnyder was promoted on Friday from Triple-A, where it seemed as though he has been in the MLB for years. The 24-year old was batting .290 with 17 doubles, seven home runs, 37 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 81 games with the RailRiders.
In his Debut, he did end up batting 0-3 at the plate, but his approach was solid and you can tell the young second baseman will hit at the major league level. The knock on him and the reason he wasn’t called up sooner was his defensive execution. Last night, Refsnyder looked comfortable at second base. His arm looked strong as shown on a relay throw that came from Chris Young when Mookie Betts was digging for third. Although he didn’t throw him out, that bullet of a throw made it a bit closer than anybody anticipated. He was drawing raves from Fox analyst Harold Reynolds who also played the position, on how strong of a arm Refsnyder showed.
With Refsnyder’s family in attendance to watch the former Arizona Wildcats standout in his debut, he was asked if he could pick them out from the crowd.
“It just looked like a bunch of little dots out there,Refsnyder said, “Good experience. It’s a lot louder than some of the Minor League venues I’ve been at.”
Since Robinson Cano left in free agency, fans have been voicing their opinions and making it loud and clear that the Yankees brass should promote the second baseman. Refsnyder was learning a new position, as he was previously a right fielder in college, and the Yankees wanted to give him more time adjusting in the infield.
He had his fair share of struggles in the minors to start the season, but as of late, he’s cleaned it up on the field. In the second inning of Saturday’s game, he turned a 5-4-3 double play showing off that arm of his. In the third, on a little dribbler to second, he made a nice smooth play on the run to gun out Ryan Hanigan at first as De Aza scored to tie the game.
This year there has been a bunch of prospects that have been promoted and are making contributions for their ball clubs. There is no reason Refsnyder will be any different. Yankee fans have a lot to be excited for, as they are getting a glimpse of their future and it looks like it’s going to be bright. Joe Girardi expects to have him in the line up on Sunday as Refsnyder will look for his first Major League hit.
