New York Yankees: Not enough at-bats available for Bombers bats

Infield

Before going into each position, D.J. LeMahieu is the wild card here. The former National League Batting Champion might be the New York Yankees MVP to this point, if he isn’t, he’s darn close. It’s hard to argue against a slash line of .323/.371/.480. Signed almost as an afterthought over this past winter, he has played in 56 games at three different positions in 2019. According to Boone, LeMahieu will be in the lineup most days. Where he plays, is another question.

Third Base

After last season’s breakout, it seemed like Miguel Andujar was firmly entrenched as the New York Yankees third baseman for years to come. Then he was caught up in the injury wave, tearing the labrum in his throwing shoulder early on. Because of the number of injuries, New York was forced to turn to an unproven rookie to handle the hot corner.

As far as Yankees fans are concerned it would take a constitutional amendment to unseat Gio Urshela from the job at this point. The Columbian infielder has hit his stride while wearing the pinstripes. Urshela is hitting .323 so far with a .836 OPS and has flashed some nifty leather.

Shortstop

Didi Gregorius was going to start this season on the injured list after requiring surgery to repair an elbow injury, suffered during last year’s playoffs loss to Boston. No problem, Cashman signed former five-time NL All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki as a free agent to fill-in until Gregorius returned sometime in June. That plan lasted all of a week before Tulo strained his calf and hasn’t played since.

Second baseman Gleyber Torres moved over to short and handled the transition almost seamlessly. His 2019 slash line compares to Cal Ripken’s days as a shortstop, but with more power. Gregarius is back as of Friday night, so Torres returns to second. Utility man Thairo Estrada is the odd man out as he was demoted to the minors Friday morning.

Tulowitzki has temporarily stopped his rehab and is taking a few days off. The emergence of Urshela and LeMahieu (and maybe even Estrada), in addition to Gregorius’ return, makes it unlikely he’ll play for the New York Yankees again.

Second Base

Torres’ move to short opened the door for LeMahieu to take over at second. The former two-time all-star and three-time gold glove winner has excelled according to the above numbers. Boone’s plan going forward is to give Gregorius a few days off a week. so LeMahieu will get some starts at second base.

Additionally, Urshela should get a day off every week, so that’s a start at third. The same with Voit and first base. Throw in an occasional DH game and LeMahieu will get his at-bats the rest of this season.

First Base

Three months ago the Yankees were looking forward to a spirited competition between Luke Voit and Greg Bird for the first base job in spring training. The loser was likely headed for DH and/or pinch-hitting duties. How quickly things changed. When Bird wasn’t hurt, as he is now, the 26-year-old was flat out awful, with a .176 batting average and more than two-and-a-half times more strikeouts (16) than hits (6) in 35 at-bats.

Voit, to his credit, has continued to play well at first base. His batting average is down to .263 from last year’s .333 but his power numbers are still high. He’s second on the team with 15 home runs. As previously mentioned LeMahieu will back him up for the time being. Bird is out of the picture and likely trade bait once he recovers from a plantar fascia tear in his foot.