It’s funny to me how a lot of people aren’t talking about New York Yankees’ first baseman, Luke Voit, heading into the 2020 season. Some people are even suggesting that there is a first base competition with him and Mike Ford. I’ve even seen a bunch of people make the argument that the Yankees should go acquire a lefty to play first or go after a guy like Josh Bell who is a switch hitter. For the life of me, I cannot think of why some folks have seemed to sour on Luke Voit. Yes, Voit didn’t end up on the ALCS roster, but that was strictly due to the injuries that had hampered Voit the second half of 2019. Prior to the core injury in 2019, you could make the argument that Luke Voit was the best hitter the Yankees had.
Luke Voit sustained an injury during the London series at the end of June, but prior to that, Voit was having a tremendous season. At the time of his injury, he was on pace to hit .280 and have 30+ HRs and about 90 RBIs. Luke Voit came out of nowhere in 2018 after he was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals for reliever Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos. In just 39 games, Voit hit .333 and had 14 HRs and drove home 33 RBIs. Voit was absolutely incredible and reminded some folks of 2016 Gary Sanchez with the way he was swinging the bat. After the season, many Yankees fans were questioning if Voit was legit or did he just have one of those magical runs.
Well, Voit answered those doubters in the first have of the 2019 season. Voit obviously wasn’t hitting at the same clip that he was in 2018, but he was very productive and was someone all New York Yankees fans should want to see at first base moving forward. Yes, the glove is not the best. That is the one area that he really needs to continue to work on over the next couple of seasons. -10 runs saved in 2019 is not something you want to see at first, but hopefully, he can improve his glove at first the same way that Gary Sanchez has at catcher. The offensive production is going to be there so if he can just become an average defender, he’s going to be one of the better first basemen in all of baseball. One thing is for sure, Luke Voit is going to put the work in to be the best player that he can be, and I think all Yankee fans should be expecting big things from Voit in 2020.