Billy McKinney is a 22 year old left-handed batter, who first caught the attention of major league scouts after leading his Plano, Texas high school team to the state baseball semi-finals. He was drafted as one of the top prospects of 2013, as a first round pick of the Oakland A's. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2014, where he played AA ball for the Tennessee Smokies.
In 2016, the Yankees traded Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs, primarily in exchange for shortstop super- prospect Gleyber
Torres; McKinney was an add on to the deal. He spent the 2016 season in AA Trenton, finishing with a .216 batting average, with
4 home runs and 44 RBI's.
So, how do you go from a so-so class AA season , right to a chance at the big show? Well, at least 2 other young players have to get injured ( first baseman Tyler Austin: foot fracture after fouling a pitch off his foot, and center fielder Mason Williams : patellar strain). BUT, it's not really how you get there that matters, but how you take advantage of the opportunity.
And take advantage he has! In 17 spring training at bats, he has a .412 batting average, with 3 HR's, 3 walks, and one strike out. Is it likely Billy will start the season in big league pinstripes? Probably not, most likely he is on his way to AAA Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. But, it's only about 145 miles from Scranton to the Bronx, if his performance continues at this level, we could be seeing a lot of Billy soon!