Drafted out of Murrieta Valley High School in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft the New York Yankees knew they had a guy that could play well in Tyler Wade. After signing for $371,300 he reported to the Yankees complex down in Tampa to start his professional career with the Gulf Coast League Yankees.
In the Gulf Coast League Wade hit .309 with 10 doubles and 12 RBIs in 46 games. His performance earned him a late-season promotion to the Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League where in just four games he hit .077 with an RBI in just 13 at bats. His strong performance and rave reviews from coaches earned him the chance to split shortstop duties with Abiatal Avelino with the Charleston RiverDogs in 2014.
With Avelino going down with a quad injury, it fell to Wade to be the everyday shortstop and he did not disappoint. Wade hit a respectable .272 with 138 hits, 24 doubles, 6 triples and a homerun in 507 at bats. Only three players in the entire league had more at bats than Wade all season. He spent the majority of his time at shortstop (94 games) but did have 15 games at second base as well as a game at third. “I feel like I’ll always be up the middle, the one game at third was a long extra inning game and we had to move guys around, so I see myself staying up the middle,” he said when asked about his time at other positions this year.
Wade has the defensive ability to stick to shortstop as he moves through the farm system. He has good range, moves well to either side and has shown above-average arm strength. Combine that with the above-average speed he has demonstrated and you can pencil him to be the everyday shortstop for the Tampa Yankees in 2015.
At the plate Wade is a line-drive hitter but is working on building up some power this off-season. “I think power is something I’m working on, it’s coming with maturity and strength,” he said.
Tyler Wade along with Abiatal Avelino, Jorge Mateo and many others make a group of talented shortstop prospects that currently fill out most of the lower-levels of the farm system. Expect big things from them as they move through system in the coming years.
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