Days before Opening Day, the Yankees would acquire Jon Berti from the Marlins to shore up the infield. Unfortunately, the speedy infielder has been unable to make much of an impact due to various lower-body injuries that have held him back all season. With his rehab assignment continuing in Triple-A, the Yankees are hoping to get his services back soon, with the belief being he could join the team as soon as tomorrow. It’s been a very successful rehab assignment from a production standpoint, as the 34-year-old has posted a .984 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A.
With the struggles the Yankees have had against left-handed pitching, adding a right-handed bat who can play both the infield and outfield back could certainly help.
Jon Berti Could Bring Much-Needed Versatility To the Yankees
Last night Jon Berti hit his second home run since beginning his rehab assignment, going on an absolute tear with the Scranton RailRiders as he’s sparked an offensive explosion for their Triple-A affiliate. He’s slashing .529/.550/.765 with a 236 wRC+ across four games with the RailRiders, but the Yankees are hoping for some offensive firepower at the Major League level. While he’s not a slugger, Berti was a solid bat last season with Miami as he posted a 101 wRC+ and .344 OBP across 133 games for a playoff-bound Marlins team.
While he’s not the base stealer he used to be, there’s a lot of value he can provide with his legs and glove. Furthermore, his feel for contact and right-handed bat could prove useful against left-handed pitchers, and the Yankees could experiment with him at a variety of positions. They have played him in left field on this rehab assignment in two of his four starts, swapping over to left field mid-game for three total games played at the position. In his brief time in left field with the Marlins, Berti posted +2 Defensive Runs Saved and +1 Outs Above Average.
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Berti can take the ball to the opposite field and for a smaller guy like himself, Yankee Stadium could play to his benefit, as his only home run of the season was something of a porch job. Last year he hit just seven but would have had eight had he played in the Bronx according to Statcast. What’s encouraging is that he looks healthy and the Yankees could really use some help in their outfield, especially with how Alex Verdugo has struggled lately. He’s hit another slump with a mere 63 wRC+ over his last 10 games, and the Yankees need to make a change fast.
Jasson Dominguez would be the obvious choice but the Yankees seem hellbent on playing a mediocre left fielder ahead of him, so while Jon Berti isn’t perfect he could likely serve as an upgrade. Trent Grisham would also be a logical outfield option but the team doesn’t seem to ever want to play him so that seems more like a pipedream than a realistic option in their eyes. The Yankees have plenty of questions to answer in the coming days in left field, but hopefully Jon Berti can quiet some of them soon.