DJ Gladney finding success with Yankees after White Sox years

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“I learned a lot from a lot of the different people there,” he said. “I took in a lot of things that I could use as my years go on in my career. My experience there, I loved it. I loved every minute of it, and I’m thankful, grateful and blessed that I got to be a part of it.”

Gladney became a minor league free agent this past offseason. Still relatively young and having shown upside — including three straight 15-plus homer seasons — he drew interest from multiple teams.

Ultimately, he chose the Yankees, joining a somewhat crowded outfield picture in the organization.

“Everybody knows the Yankees and everybody knows what they’re about,” he said. “Just to be a part of that, I’m grateful and blessed that I get to take in some knowledge from the New York Yankees standpoint. Hitting philosophies are generally similar between teams, but the technology is definitely different here — iPads, getting to use Trajekt more, especially in spring. I’ve been loving every minute of it.”

It shows. A change of scenery seems to have unlocked much of his potential, as he’s now knocking on the door for what would be the first promotion to Triple-A of his career. Gladney is hitting .345 with two home runs and 17 RBIs in his first 22 games with the Patriots, stealing four bases and posting a .904 OPS.

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“Honestly, I wouldn’t say it’s more of an organizational thing, although they have helped me a lot in realizing my potential,” he said. “It’s just me having fun, not trying to do too much and taking the game for what it is. When I was with the White Sox, I was drafted out of high school at 17. I didn’t really have that development, going straight from being around high schoolers to grown men. So I didn’t really get that development aspect.

“Now, it’s about not being so hard on myself. At the end of the day, it’s a game. You’re not going to go 4-for-4 with three homers every day, and I understand that now. Back then, I was so focused on performance and trying to get called up. Seeing teammates get called up, I was trying to make that my life instead of taking things for what they were.”

Going through the free agency process, Gladney said, helped take away pressure to prove himself in a new organization. The numbers so far show it’s more than just talk.

“You never know what can happen,” he said. “Being a free agent kind of opened my eyes — like, ‘Hey, baseball is not forever.’ So you might as well just enjoy what you have now.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Who is DJ Gladney? Yankees prospect raking in Somerset