The New York Yankees play at first base has been so bad that they have had to employ DJ LeMahieu, their starting second baseman, there for lots of games. Jay Bruce retired after a handful of contests, and while Mike Ford has brought his power stroke with a couple of home runs, he’s not the permanent solution.
For the permanent solution, the Yankees are about to welcome back Luke Voit, their starting first baseman, after missing the whole season to this point with a partially torn meniscus that required surgery. But now, he is ready, locked, and loaded. He is still in play to return for the Tampa series that starts on Tuesday.
“I do. I do think he’ll be back in play for the Rays series,†Boone said to the Yankees’ official site before Sunday’s finale against the Washington Nationals. “Think he’s DHing again today, and we could possibly have him from there.â€
He is destroying baseballs with the Yankees’ Triple-A team
He did play the designated hitter role in the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, Scranton Wilkes-Barre, and it resulted in another fierce offensive showing: he had a home run and a double, and is currently hitting 7-for-18 with three dingers in his rehab assignment.
The Yankees have a lot of faith in Voit and his right-handed bat. Last season, he led MLB with 22 homers and had 52 RBI, with a .277 batting average. His manager is extremely excited to have him back after all these weeks.
“I mean, very [excited],†Boone said. “He obviously is an impact hitter, an impact bat and just adds a little bit more length and a little bit more heaviness to our lineup, so it’ll be good to get him back. I feel like he’s in a good spot physically, he’s been able to rack up a lot of live at-bats here this week, so we’re looking forward to getting him back for sure.â€