Yankees’ Engelth Urena Will Rely On Bat To Chart Course


It took a while, but Engelth Urena finally showed what he could do in an extended sample.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022 for $275,000, Urena played in just 11 games in his first two professional seasons. The 5-foot-11, 196-pound catcher/first baseman missed extensive time with injuries.
His Dominican Summer League debut was cut short by a broken hand, then he missed all of 2023 after having left knee surgery.
The 20-year-old Urena broke through in his U.S. debut in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League in 2024. His eight home runs ranked third in the league, while he batted .301/.420/.564 in 40 games with 24 walks and 19 strikeouts.
“He has qualities about him that are exciting across the board,” former Yankees minor league hitting coordinator Joe Migliaccio said last fall before being hired by the Marlins.
“He’s really checking off boxes. He hits the ball hard. He hits the ball hard in the air. He makes phenomenal decisions at the plate. He doesn’t chase. He swings in the zone at a high rate and he also has a 10% miss in-zone rate.
“Those are exciting qualities from a young player.”
Set to make his full-season debut in 2025 at Low-A Tampa, Urena will need to work on his defensive skills to show that he can remain behind the plate. He started 10 games at catcher compared to 17 at first base.
He shared the work behind the dish in the FCL with Edgleen Perez and Josue Gonzalez—but he threw out 11% of basestealers.
In short, the bat will need to be the carrying tool to keep him moving up the ladder.