The Yankees have been trying to find the right combination at the top of the order, recently deploying Alex Verdugo as the primary lead-off man. The 28-year-old lefty is in a contract season but is putting together career-low numbers. Over 118 games, Verdugo is hitting .235/.294/.366, including 10 homers and 53 RBIs. His slugging metrics are at an all-time low, and his 85 wRC+ suggests he’s 15% worse than the average MLB player.
Yankees’ Leadoff Struggles Continue
At this point, the Yankees can’t justify using Verdugo anymore, and they don’t have that many options at their disposal; they’re looking to Gleyber Torres to fill the void. With a righty on the mound, the Yankees usually have Verdugo lead off, but Torres will have the job on Saturday after a solid performance on Friday against the Detroit Tigers. He collected two hits with a run, inspiring manager Aaron Boone to utilize him again on a consecutive day.
On the season, the 27-year-old is also having one of his worst campaigns. Over 116 games, Torres is hitting just .238/.311/.353, including 10 homers and 45 RBIs. His numbers are oddly similar to Verdugo’s, which doesn’t necessarily brew much confidence. Batting lead-off this year, Torres is hitting .231 with a .279 OBP, but the Bombers are simply looking for anything at this point from one of their best hitters in 2023.
Potential Solutions
There’s a strong argument to make that either Jazz Chisholm should take the lead-off spot once he returns from the 10-day injured list, or the Yankees should promote Jasson Dominguez to fill the job. Dominguez has struggled after returning from an oblique injury in Triple-A, but he’s starting to heat up, and the switch hitter could be valuable down the stretch. Over his last four games, Dominguez has five hits with three RBIs, so there’s a reasonable argument to make that he should be promoted and slotted into left field immediately.
Cabrera’s Contribution
In the end, the Yankees cannot sustain both Torres and Verdugo struggling at this rate, especially during playoff baseball. Boone needs to make some changes at some point, and the return of Chisholm helps but doesn’t completely smooth over the weaknesses they have in the batting order.
At the moment, the team is getting solid results from Oswaldo Cabrera at third base, who’s hitting .248 this season, but since July 1, is hitting .295/.343/.475. He will start Saturday afternoon’s game at third base, utilizing his switch-hitting bat against a right-handed pitcher.
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Overall Team Performance at Leadoff
Of the 30 MLB teams, the Yankees rank 23rd at the leadoff spot in batting average. They rank in the bottom half in nearly every category at that spot, which is extremely problematic and deserves some attention from management.