Butterflies for Voit in Oct. debut

It wasn’t always all smiles for Luke Voit.

One week after being acquired by the Yankees, Voit had played more games with Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre than he had in the official pinstripes. On Aug. 13, he was batting .188 (3-for-16, with five strikeouts) and sent down to spend another seven games in the minors.

The chants Voit had heard in Yankee Stadium were not confusing. They were not saying his first name.

“It was definitely boos the first time, but luckily I changed that around, and I got back to who I was,” Voit said Tuesday. “It’s all positive ‘Luke’ now.”

Just six weeks after returning to the majors, the Yankees’ unlikely second-half hero looked at the empty seats in his home park and tried to imagine what the atmosphere will be like in his playoff debut.

Voit helped ensure the AL wildcard game would be in The Bronx by batting .333 with 14 homers, 33 RBIs and a 1.095 OPS since being acquired from the Cardinals on July 29, and enters Wednesday as the reigning AL Player of the Week after hitting .458 with three homers last week.

The 27-year-old’s second season in the majors has been unlike anything he ever experienced. He knows his first playoff game will be, too.

“How the guys are talking about Yankee Stadium, I heard it’s nuts,” Voit said. “There’s definitely gonna be butterflies. But that’s a good thing. If I wasn’t getting butterflies, then I shouldn’t be playing this game.”

In addition to Voit, rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres will also be making their first postseason appearances, following their own breakout regular seasons.

Andujar began the season at Triple-A. Torres didn’t make his major league debut until April 22. Then, each became AL Rookie of the Year candidates, with the 23year-old Andujar batting .297 with 27 home runs, and the 21-year-old Torres hitting .271 with 24 homers.

Their careers have traveled so far since the season started. Now, how will they handle being so close to the end?