Voit provides needed surge
Luke Voit might have been the jolt the Yankees needed. The first baseman’s fist pumps and home runs have injected some life into a team that was called out by former Red Sox and Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez for playing without energy just a week ago.
“He’s a character. It’s fun to watch the excitement he plays the game with,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Voit. “I think he enjoys coming to the field. I think he has an expectation that he is going to be successful. I think he believes he can hit and hit well in this league. He’s got a chance to show that and he has produced.”
“It has been fun to see the guys kind of feed off him and react to him,” Boone continued. “Seeing his different reactions when he has had success has been something we’ve gotten a kick out of.”
But it’s Voit’s hot bat — and Greg Bird’s cold one — that had him making his fourth straight start and hitting in the clean-up spot for the Yankees in their series opener against the White Sox Monday night at the Stadium.
Voit was 8-for-13 with five runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI on the Yankees’ seven-game road trip. He recorded his first career multi-home run game and set a career high with three hits in Friday’s win over the Orioles in Baltimore.
With Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius all on the disabled list right now, Boone could no longer wait for Bird to find himself at the plate.
“We’ve needed guys to step up for us. With some guys being down, he’s been one of those guys, certainly on this past road trip has played a big part in us winning some games,” Boone said. “He’s been a shot in the arm for us. I think he’s been welcomed in the room. He kind of brings a different swagger in each day and it’s been fun to watch him go out there and produce. “And we’ve needed it.”
Bird is hitless in his last 17 atbats and did not play in Sunday’s game in Baltimore.
GREGORIUS GETTING CLOSER
Didi Gregorius was expected to see the team doctor on Monday night. The shortstop went on the disabled list last week with a bruised left heel but has said he thinks it will be a quick return.
Gregorius suffered the bruise in an awkward collision at first base Aug. 19.
SANCHEZ IN SHAPE
Boone was not criticizing his catcher for being out of shape before he went on the DL when he praised his conditioning this weekend. Sanchez, who has played just three games since June 25 because of a groin injury, has lost 10 to 15 pounds since going on the DL.
“I wouldn’t go there,” Boone said when asked if he was not happy with Sanchez’s conditioning before the injury. “I just feel like his conditioning is at a really, really good level, so to me it’s the best it’s been all year. Just watching him move, watching him in the days leading up to him leaving us ... I just feel like he’s in a really good place physically.”