New York Yankees: Why is Luke Voit struggling so much at the plate?

Reasoning Behind New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit’s Struggles at the Plate:

Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. As legend Ted Williams once said, “They throw you a round ball and give you a round bat and tell you to hit it squarely.” Williams made this statement when the average speed of a fastball wasn’t 92.8 mph like in today’s game.

Now, imagine trying to hit a 92.8 mph round ball with a round bat squarely AND being fresh off the injured list. That’s what Luke Voit’s daily task entails and from what it looks like, it’s not easy.

The power-hitting first baseman was injured overseas when the Yankees were battling the Red Sox in MLB’s first games ever to be played in Europe. He left the first game of the two-game set with pain in his lower left abdomen and was placed on the 10-day IL.

Voit was recently reinstated from the IL and has not been his productive self at the plate. He’s only recorded 5 hits in his last 23 at-bats and has one home run since returning. Some may say that Luke Voit doesn’t deserve the #3 spot in the star-studded lineup but all good things take time and moving him down in the lineup could lower his confidence. 

The timing of Voit’s injury was unfortunate considering the Yankees’ upcoming schedule at the time. Not only did the team have to fly across the pond back to New York, but they also traveled to Tampa to take on the Rays the following weekend.

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Voit’s bat also made him a prospective participant of this year’s Home Run Derby in Cleveland during All-Star weekend, (which he obviously could no longer participate in) adding a few extra days for the Missouri native to simply sit and wait. 

This time away from the game could really impact a hitter’s performance at the plate and that’s precisely what happened to Voit. It’s unfair to consider his struggles as a slump when the sample size of at-bats is so small since returning. Seeing pitches and getting re-accustomed after his time off is key for his success at the plate. Yankees fans can expect to see balls bounce off the bat of Luke Voit and back into the seats in the near future. Until then, leave the crazy assumptions about him in your Twitter drafts.