Neil Medchill
Via Cormac Gordon:
Any day without a ballgame is a missed opportunity for the [Staten Island] Yankee left-fielder [Neil Medchill], who is swinging one of the hottest bats in the NY-Penn League.
The 11th-round draft choice out of Oklahoma State is currently hitting a robust .330, with a league-leading eight home runs and a very muscular .660 slugging percentage.
And prior to an 0 for 5 in Wednesday’s doubleheader split with Jamestown, the long, lefty-swinging Medchill was on an eight-game tear during which he batted .400 with five homers and 14 RBI.
In other words, he’s been improving by the day.
His productivity in the middle of the Yankees lineup is one reason the team went on a recent 10-game win streak, and have closed to within three games of the division-leading Cyclones after beginning the season 1-6.
“He’s killing the ball,” was manager Josh Paul’s simple assessment, which seems to perfectly capture the offensive output of the 6-foot-4 Medchill.
“Neil’s already made adjustments to playing at this level,” Paul said. “Moving to professional ball is the great equalizer, and he’s doing a great job. He’s already staying on the ball better than when he got here, and driving pitchers’ mistakes into gaps when they used to be fly balls.”
And Medchill’s play in the outfield also gets high marks from Paul.
“He sees the ball very well, and gets good jumps,” the manager said. “When he first got here, he wanted to play real deep. It’s a natural tendency for players who are coming from college, where hitters use aluminum bats. But we moved Neil in, and he’s playing real well.”
Which is a pretty good report card for someone with only 33 games of professional experience.
Then again, Kyle Larsen ripped apart the New York-Pennsylvania League in 2005, at Staten Island, too. Nonetheless, for now, Medchill deserves to be on the Yankees prospect radar…until he proves otherwise.
