Alexander Wilson
I was at Steinbrenner Field on Saturday for the New York Yankees Spring Breakout game against the Braves, and while everyone else was watching George Lombard Jr., I kept finding myself looking at first base. Specifically, at No. 24 in the Yankees’ lineup: Coby Morales.
The Yanks lost 8-3, and Lombard had a night to forget. Two strikeouts, two errors, including an overthrow on a tough play up the middle and a wide throw that pulled the first baseman off the bag. That stuff happens, especially for a 20-year-old shortstop still developing in his first big spring camp. But the guy who picked up those pieces and kept the Yankees competitive for stretches? Morales.
What Morales Did
The 24-year-old went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and made two of the most impressive defensive plays of the entire night. He drove in the Yankees’ first run in the first inning with a single, then turned a stolen base attempt into a run when the throw pulled the catcher into center field. He added another RBI single in the eighth when the game was already out of hand, which tells you something about his competitiveness and approach.
The defensive moments stood out even more. Morales transitioned from first base to left field mid-game, and from out there he twice threw out runners at the plate. The arm, the decision-making, the footwork through the throw. All of it looked polished. For a player nobody is talking about, that is a real combination of skills.
Who He Is
Morales was an 18th-round pick by the Yankees in 2023, the kind of selection that gets buried in a draft recap and forgotten by October. He has spent the last few seasons climbing slowly and quietly through the system, and his 2025 numbers across High-A and Double-A tell the story of a hitter still finding himself. He hit .243/.318/.355 over 116 games, posting a 25.7% strikeout rate against a 9% walk rate and a 103 wRC+. League average. Seven home runs, 49 RBIs, 17 stolen bases. There is a real multi-tool skill set in there, but the bat needs refinement.
The honest complication is that his numbers in Double-A over 26 games fell off considerably. Moving up the ladder exposed some holes, and at 24 that is a tighter timeline than it would be for a 21-year-old top prospect with years of development runway ahead. He is not going to sneak up on major league pitching the way a guy drafted in the first round might, because those pitchers will be prepared for him in a way they are not for blue-chip names.
Why Saturday Mattered
None of that changes what I watched on Saturday night. The athleticism is genuine. The arm from left field is a legitimate weapon. Three hits against Braves prospects in a Spring Breakout game is not a projection model. It is a guy going out there and performing when most of his teammates were not.
Late-round picks who develop into useful big leaguers almost always have one thing in common: they can do several things well, even if none of them are elite. Morales can hit for contact, steal bases, play the corner infield, and throw out runners from the outfield. That is not a star, but it is a player, and this organization needs players who can move through the system and provide depth when the big club needs it.
I am not ready to call Morales a prospect to get excited about in the traditional sense. But after Saturday, I am paying attention. And that is more than I can say going in.
More about:New York Yankees
