Yankees enjoying Franchy Cordero's remarkable breakout

Watching Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton take batting practice can be quite the pregame spectacle, with baseballs sailing to the deepest corners of Yankee Stadium.

But Thursday’s longest-drive contest involved a relatively new participant, with Franchy Cordero joining the heavyweight group. And Cordero was arguably the star of this pregame stage as one of his blasts caromed off the tinted-glass batter’s eye high above Monument Park.

For the lefty-hitting Cordero, that deep drive had sort of a slicing power fade, and the scoreboard Statcast registered 453 feet -- the rarified air that few Yankees besides Judge and Stanton are able to reach with any regularity. But what Cordero has accomplished since donning pinstripes, as a last-minute $1 million signing on the eve of Opening Day, puts him in a class by himself.

Entering Thursday, Cordero was the first player to ever rack up 11 RBIs through his first seven games with the Yankees, according to Elias (the RBI became an official stat in 1920). His four homers (in his last five games) also tied him for the team lead with Judge, who you may remember as the guy who broke Roger Maris’ single-season record a year ago with 62. Cordero cooled off Thursday, however, going 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts and the farthest ball he hit died at the rightfield warning track in the Yankees’ 11-2 loss to the Twins.

We’re not predicting Cordero, 28, to make a run at Judge’s freshly-minted crown. But his April flex has been a totally unanticipated weapon for a Yankees team that already had plenty of pop -- not to mention another brilliant under-the-radar move for GM Brian Cashman, who found gold in similar fashion last season when he signed a discarded Matt Carpenter from out of the Rangers’ farm system.

At the time, Carpenter was a distressed asset, a three-time All-Star that the Cardinals gave up on before he wound up at Triple-A Round Rock. Once Carpenter put on the pinstripes, he morphed into Babe Ruth, slugging 15 homers in 47 games while hitting .305 with a 1.138 OPS.

It was an astonishing display, and figured to be one of those lightning-in-a-bottle pickups that GMs dream about happening maybe once every five years or so. But now it appears that Cashman has done it again, only 11 months later, by scooping up Cordero after the Orioles dumped him at the end of spring training. In both cases, timing appears to be a big part of the equation, as both players showed up in the Bronx with something to prove. But unlike Carpenter, Cordero raked in the Grapefruit League (.413 BA, 1.099 OPS in 47 plate appearances) and the Orioles dumped him anyway. Is that chip on his shoulder  a contributing factor to what he’s doing now?

“At the end of the day, you understand that teams have a need or they’re trying to build their roster a certain way,” Cordero said Thursday through an interpreter. “I’ve been around the league for a couple of years now and I’ve seen it happen to teammates, so I’ve had that experience. I’m just very happy that I’m here now with the Yankees and have this opportunity.”

Cordero has shown flashes of offensive ability that include loud contact, but his season high in homers is the eight he hit last year in 84 games with the Red Sox. Also, making that contact had been a problem, with a career K rate over 35% through his first six seasons.

As a Yankee, however, Cordero has trimmed that to 25.9% while hitting .280 (7-for-25) with a 1.133 OPS through seven games. He also ranks 14th in the majors with a 14.8 barrel percentage -- a stat that reflects hard contact per plate appearance -- right below his former teammate, Boston’s $313 million third baseman Rafael Devers (15.1). Cordero credits that uptick to better plate disciple and smarter swing decisions.

“Definitely,” Cordero said. “I think it’s something that I’ve been working on the last couple of years, especially in winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Cut down the strike zone, control more of the strike zone and look for my pitches.”

Maybe Cordero and the Yankees just found each other at the perfect time. He was lucky enough need a job at the exact moment that a World Series favorite was unhappy with its fourth outfielder situation heading into Opening Day. Since Aaron Hicks was unable to lock down a starting role -- even after the spring-training injury to Harrison Bader -- Cordero’s remarkable breakout has allowed Cashman to check that box without looking any further for help. The only question at the moment is whether some degree of Cordero’s historic production is sustainable.

“When you have talent like that, the light goes on at different times in people’s careers, so you never know,” manager Aaron Boone said before Thursday’s game. “It is a small sample. But the talent’s real, so sure it’s possible.”

Here in mid-April, Cordero doesn’t appear to be a mirage. Thursday’s pregame fireworks display was impressive, just as his pinstriped rampage through this first month of the season has been. And no one is enjoying the show more than the Yankees.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.