MLB has listed the New York Yankees‘ first baseman, Luke Voit, as the number three first baseman in all of baseball right now. MLB Network’s Sean Casey said he has no problem with the Network choosing the Yankees’ Luke for at the third-best first baseman. Casey is a former Cincinnati Red’s slugger first baseman that has a lifetime .302 batting average over twelve seasons.
“I like it. I like it a lot,†Casey, now an analyst at the network, said Wednesday. “I think I had him right there on my list. The thing I like about Voit is, i think he continues to get better — .610 (slugging percentage) last year. I’ve been waiting for last season from a guy like Voit. … 22 home runs, 52 RBI, 156 OPS+. This guy, for me, was special. Defensively, he’s average or below average. But I don’t care. For a corner guy like Voit, this guy’s a stud.â€
Here is the list announced by the MLB Network:Â 10. Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians. 9. Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies. 8. Matt Olson of the Athletics. 7. Pete Alonso of the New York Mets. 6. Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs. 5. Max Muncy of the Dodgers, 4. Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox. 3. Luke Voit of the New York Yankees. 2. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals. 1. Freddie Freeman of the Milwaukee Braves.
With the New York Yankees needing pitching, both starting and in the bullpen, Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit have often been mentioned as trade pieces to fulfill needs. The fact is that neither is going anywhere. Torres hit the most home runs (38) for the Yankees in 2019, and Voit hit the most home runs of any player (22) in the shortened 2020 season. Translating the number to a 162 game season falls just two homers short of Roger Maris’s home run record during 1961.
In July of 2018, the Cards traded Luke Voit to the New York Yankees and bonus pool money to get pitcher Chasen Shrive and Giovanny Gallegos. The Yanks assigned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yanks swiftly promoted him to the majors. An abdominal injury right around the London series sidelined him in 2019.
Fast forward to the bizarre 2020 baseball season. Luke played well in spring training and summer camp. When the shortened season started, Voit got his first hit in the last game of the Washington Nationals series, and it was a home run. Little did the New York Yankees know at the time that that hit would start a season for Luke Voit that competed with DJ LeMahieu for New York Yankee’s MVP. In the next series against the Orioles, he would get two hits, one of them a homer that drove in four runs. At the beginning of the season, it was assumed that Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge would have the most significant impact on the Yankees. As it turns out, neither of them could stay healthy enough to stay on the field. Voit had been healthy, and he has had his best play in his three years with the Yankees while still playing through a foot issue. He ended the season hitting .277 with 22 home runs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7maUhCwjo