Yesterday it was announced that the New York Yankees would place infielder J.D. Davis on the IL, promoting Jorbit Vivas for what would be his first trip to the Major Leagues. He’s not a top-100 prospect nor is he someone that you would look at as a game-changer, but he’s certainly a well-regarded hitter in the system and has the tools to be a reliable big-league contributor. It’s not as if the infield has been giving you much anyway, as both DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres have been well below their expectation levels and haven’t done much of anything offensively all year.
Despite the infield woes, Jorbit Vivas wasn’t in the lineup on Friday and Aaron Boone was non-committal in terms of what his role would be. This cannot be a situation where he plays once this weekend and gets demoted next Friday, it has to be a chance for Jorbit Vivas to steal reps from LeMahieu and Torres.
The Time Has Come for the Yankees To Give Jorbit Vivas a Chance
We aren’t looking at the 2009 Yankees’ infield, this is a group that could certainly use a boost offensively, especially at third base. Aaron Boone mentioned that he felt comfortable playing Jorbit Vivas at third base, and the time has come for that to happen. DJ LeMahieu is a disaster for the Yankees right now, having a 53 wRC+ in his first 35 games back, given his age, it looks like this is an aging player on the decline. There’s just no reason to force him into the lineup when you just promoted one of your better infield prospects to the Major Leagues.
Does Jorbit Vivas stop you from wanting an upgrade in the infield? Absolutely not, but he could get some playing time when your starting second baseman and starting third basemen don’t contribute much value at all right now. Not playing him on Friday was somewhat excusable because we don’t know if he was tired traveling into Baltimore, but there will be no excuse if he’s not in the lineup on Saturday, especially after seeing LeMahieu put up an 0-5 performance as the leadoff hitter (and somehow hitting into a double play).
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The skills that Jorbit Vivas has are the kinds of skills that translate well to the Major Leagues, and the Yankees need to at least try and see if he’ll pan out. The downside here is non-existent; if he’s bad it’s not as if teams will assume he can’t pan out at the Major League level, and he doesn’t have the boom-or-bust profile that would make you worried that pitchers will find a massive hole in his bat.
He ranks in the 84th Percentile in Zone Contact% and in the 68th Percentile in SEAGER, which measures your swing decisions in and out of the zone. When you have good plate coverage and control those skills typically translate well to the Major Leagues, but his batted ball data comes with some encouraging tidbits as well. He doesn’t run high exit velocities, and that’s going to be a limiting factor in his offensive potential, but he both pulls the ball a lot in the air and generates a ton of Sweet Spots.
For those unaware, Sweet Spots are batted balls between 8 and 32 degrees in terms of launch angle, and are considered the ideal spread of launch angles for hits and solid contact. The league average at Triple-A is 33.6% and Jorbit Vivas is at a 37% clip, so he’s maximizing the most out of his smaller stature for excellent results. If he’s a 95-100 wRC+ hitter with good baserunning and defensive value, he’s a championship-caliber starter with the right players surrounding him.
Calling up Jorbit Vivas, who has displayed a skill set that is sorely needed in the infield, just to have him sit and get sent down after three days would be malpractice. J.D. Davis does not play at all, the Yankees can get the occasional start against a LHP from Jahmai Jones if it comes down to it. There’s no reason for DJ LeMahieu, who is performing worse than Josh Donaldson in 2023, to continue to be the team’s unquestioned starter at third base at this point.
Some may point to the underlying metrics, as LeMahieu has a .336 xwOBA compared to his .238 wOBA, but part of that is his painfully low pulled flyball rates that don’t allow him to maximize his barrels. Josh Donaldson had a .325 xwOBA and found himself designated for assignment by the Yankees, and while I don’t think DJ LeMahieu should be cut with two years left on his deal, he shouldn’t be starting.
It’s simple to anyone with an objective opinion on DJ LeMahieu and the Yankees; he’s done and they need to find a way to get someone else involved. Jorbit Vivas may not click at the Major Leagues, but there’s a chance he does and that’s good enough reasoning to play him every day. There’s no reason for him to play one game this weekend and then get sent back down to Scranton. Until someone at second or third shows a pulse, that job should be Vivas’ to try and win.