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<p>MOOSIC &#8212; There has been a theme to Billy McKinney&#8217;s 2017 campaign.</p><p>Time and time again he&#8217;s taking advantage of the opportunities placed in front of him.</p><p>Not too long ago McKinney was turning heads for the New York Yankees in spring training. The 22-year-old outfielder earned a late invite to Yankees camp after first baseman Tyler Austin broke a bone in his left foot during batting practice just days before the start of spring training. Batting .400 in 20 games and 25 at-bats back in the spring, McKinney was even starting to garner some attention from Yankees skipper Joe Girardi.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s swinging the bat great. Even his outs are hard,&#8221; Girardi said. &#8220;He&#8217;s taken advantage of his situation where he got to come to camp because of a couple injuries. He&#8217;s been swinging it extremely well. I&#8217;m excited to follow him this year.&#8221;</p><p>McKinney then started the regular season in Double-A Trenton, where he struggled in the months of April and May, batting .138 and .253, respectively, before he turned it on in June. After a three-homer, eight-RBI month, including a .333 batting average, McKinney played his way into his first Triple-A promotion.</p><p>Replacing Clint Frazier, who was called up to the majors on July 1, McKinney has made the most of his first week-plus with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The former Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics prospect is batting .407 heading into the RailRiders weekend series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just glad I get the opportunity,&#8221; McKinney said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to go out and give it my all every day. You never know what the results are going to be, but I&#8217;m going to give the best I got. I&#8217;m just glad the Yankees gave me the opportunity in spring training and here. I&#8217;m just going to go out there and help the team win and hope for results.&#8221;</p><p>For a player a week into the first Triple-A stint of his career, McKinney sounds like a savy vet. He&#8217;s taking a team-first approach to everything he does and has fit seamlessly into the ever-changing RailRiders clubhouse.</p><p>With his light and humorous personality, he fits right in with the likes of Eddy Rodriguez, Cito Culver and Jake Cave.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not trying to do to much. Just trying to fit in, be quiet and just crack some jokes along the way,&#8221; McKinney said.</p><p>But nothing McKinney has done in his first week with the RailRiders has surprised his new manager Al Pedrique.</p><p>The skipper has enjoyed watching McKinney play. Pedrique likes the work ethic he&#8217;s seen, how he &#8220;plays hard&#8221; and has been able to put the opponents in tough situations.</p><p>In the 10 games prior to the series against the IronPigs, McKinney owns a .462 batting average with three home runs, nine runs scored and seven RBI. While it&#8217;s near impossible to keep up a .462 batting average, Pedrique is excited for the Dallas native&#8217;s future.</p><p>&#8220;He plays hard, he&#8217;s been having some big hits, key hits, for us lately &#8212; home run, base hit,&#8221; Pedrique said. &#8220;The way he runs the bases puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Defensively, he&#8217;s shown that he can throw, he can cover a lot of ground.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Billy McKinney sports a .407 batting average heading into the weekend series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Fred Adams | For Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_rr_billy_mckinney_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Billy McKinney sports a .407 batting average heading into the weekend series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Fred Adams | For Times Leader </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Billy-McKinney-FA-CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Billy McKinney sports a .407 batting average heading into the weekend series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_Billy-McKinney-FA-CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder Billy McKinney sports a .407 batting average heading into the weekend series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

RailRiders Weekend Feature: Billy McKinney taking advantage of his next opportunity