Before the season, one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Yankees was their infield.
The team lost Robinson Cano to the Mariners and Alex Rodriguez to suspension and was counting on bounce-back seasons from Mark Teixeira and the soon-to-be 40-year-old Derek Jeter — both of whom missed the vast majority of 2013 with injuries.
In an effort to fill the void, the Yankees signed Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts, and neither has come close to approximating the production of the departed duo.
Should the Yankees decide to turn to their farm system in an attempt to solve the infield problem, they’ll find 27-year-old third baseman Zelous Wheeler, who is the leading the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders with a .325 average.
“His best asset, from a hitting aspect, is his hands,” RailRiders hitting coach Butch Wynegar said. “Real loose, whippy hands.”
Wheeler, a product of Wallace State Community College in Alabama and a career minor leaguer who was drafted in the 19th round in 2007 by the Brewers, spent the last two seasons bouncing between the Orioles’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates before the Yankees signed him to a minor league deal in November.
Wheeler got off to a strong start this season, going 8-for-19 (.421) before suffering a back injury, which sidelined him for nearly three weeks. Upon his return, Wheeler couldn’t maintain his torrid pace, but is still hitting .276 in the month of May.
Wheeler hit only .268 for Triple-A Norfolk last season.
“He made some adjustments,” Wynegar said, when asked to what he could attribute Wheeler’s improvement. “He was wide open with his stance in Norfolk and then he tried to get close up to ‘get square.’ This year, he’s more square and he’s implemented the leg kick. I thought they were good adjustments, and now I want to get back to [him] not kicking as high.”
One of Wheeler’s selling points is his defensive versatility. He has spent most of this season playing third and second base, but has also seen time at shortstop and right field. Having the ability to play multiple positions is certainly a plus, especially at the major league level.
Wheeler is hitting well and the Yankees’ current infield options are struggling, so a call-up may be in the near future, but he is keeping a level head.
“All these guys here look forward to when they get the call to the big leagues,” Wynegar said. “And I told him, from Day 1, my goal is to have you [be] solid [in] what you do at the plate and the field, so when you go up there, there’s minimal adjustments to be made. I tell these guys all the time, ‘I don’t want you to hit .300 here, I want you to hit it up there.’ ”