The New York Yankees are inching their way back to normalcy after starting the 2021 campaign on a bad note. They recently won a series against the Washington Nationals over the weekend and have emerged victorious in nine of their last 12 contests thanks to an increase in offensive proficiency but also stellar relief pitching.
While their offense still struggles at times, they managed to earn a walk-off win against Washington on Sunday afternoon thanks to Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a single to drive in the winning run.
The Nationals have grappled this year to find their footing; the Yankees are now two games above .500 and sit in second place behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings. Luckily, they are not far back from first place, and they will likely catch up in the coming weeks.
Good news and bad news for the Yankees:
First baseman Luke Voit has been absolutely crushing it during his minor-league assignment as he works his way back from injury.
“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,†Boone said. “It’ll be good to get him back. Feel like he’s in a good spot physically. He’s been able to rack up a lot of live at-bats here this past week.â€
Gaining Voit back will be a tremendous deal for the Yankees, as he adds another slugger to the lineup and one that led the MLB in home runs last season with 22 over 56 games. A bit more consistency at first base and one of their best hitters back should give the Yankees a healthy jolt of energy and production.
Relevant to the victory, the Yankee offense struggled to get going throughout the contest, logging just five hits and striking out 10 times. Gary Sanchez has seen his batting average plummet to .174, striking out three times in the contest, the only Yankee to do so. Skipper Aaron Boone gave Aaron Judge a night off until they decided to call in the big dogs to try and close out the win.
It was Stanton who got the job done, though, driving in the winning run and logging two walks on the afternoon. As for the pitching, Domingo German had a solid performance, lasting 6.1 endings and tallying five hits and two runs allowed. Overall, Boone is likely content with this performance, as the bullpen came in and shut down Washington for the remainder of the contest.
Overall, it was a healthy win thanks to the pitching, but the offense is still in need of energy, and hopefully, Voit can provide that.