Headley rewards Joe’s faith
EARLIER THIS season, most Yankees fans wanted Chase Headley out of the lineup and off the ballclub.
And given that he posted a .446 OPS in May and was struggling in the field at third, who could blame them?
But the Bombers stuck with Headley, and he’s become an extremely valuable hitter since the All-Star break — someone whom Joe Girardi needs to play basically every day.
The 33-year-old corner infielder went 3-for-4 with a homer in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Red Sox.
“Head’s been a big part of this, and it goes back to his unselfishness, his willingness to do anything that we’ve asked him to do and being a real team player,” Girardi said. “I’m going to have to find ways to keep him in the lineup, and I’ll be able to do that. I’m not worried about it. He’ll play tomorrow somewhere.”
Since July 20, when the Yankees asked him to switch across the diamond and play primarily first base, Headley is hitting .328/.408/.547. He’s hit six homers in his last 29 games after hitting just four homers in his first 93 games.
“I think at this point in my career, winning is just the biggest thing,” Headley said. “The one thing about this organization is nobody’s bigger than the team. And if you buy into that, I think you can maybe let the emotional side out of it a bit, and that’s what I’ve tried to do. I certainly want to contribute and play every day, but I want to win more than any of that.”
Todd Frazier has hit just .216/.349/.360 in 41 games since being traded to the Yankees, leaving Headley as the more productive option at third now that first baseman Greg Bird has returned from his right ankle injury. Headley could potentially get some starts against lefties at first as well.
Matt Holliday has also returned from his back injury. Holliday belted a three-run homer in his return to the DH spot on Saturday.
The Yankees and their fans are just glad that Headley came out of his early funk. “I knew I was eventually going to get out of it,” Headley said. “I’ve played this game for a long time. I know that I can play. When you’re going through it, it’s rough. It seems like everything is going against you — from the calls to the hard-hit balls getting caught. You just have to keep going, keep working and stay positive, and eventually it’s always turned for me.”
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ACIT DOESN’T LOOK like Aaron Judge struck out on Saturday night. The Daily News may have learned the cause for the Yankee rookie’s horrific slump in the second half of the season as he was seen at the U.S. Open with a blonde bombshell by his side (above r.). The verdict? WOWZA! Her name is Jen Flaum, a University of Michigan graduate and Franklin Lakes, N.J. native, according to a source. Flaum, whom Judge recently followed on Instagram, posted a photo of the U.S. Open court on her Instagram story late Saturday night. The source told the Daily News that Flaum is a big Yankees fan who “may or may not” have slid into Judge’s DM’s before the two were first seen together publicly. Flaum’s Instagram page features a handful of photos of her at Yankee Stadium, including one captioned “I got 99 problems but A. Judge ain’t one.” Both the Yankees and Aaron Judge have liked photos on her page, and she frequently comments on Judge’s Instagram posts. No word on whether Flaum has visited the Judge’s chambers. Judge was shown on the big screen for the first time at Arthur Ashe Stadium during Rafael Nadal’s match against Leonardo Mayer. Earlier in the day, Judge and the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 5-1, to pull within 4.5 games of first place in the AL East. The rookie went 0-4 with two strikeouts. While it seemed Judge was having a blast on Saturday night, he has not blasted a baseball into the stands since the last time the Yankees were in Queens — on Aug. 16 at Citi Field. — Nicholas Parco