Voit proves he’s the real deal for the Yankees

From a man without a job to a critical cog, Luke Voit has enjoyed a meteoric rise with the New York Yankees.

Indeed, in their 29-year-old first baseman, the Bombers have a budding star who has raked more or less consistently since his arrival in the Bronx.

Acquired in July 2018 from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was blocked from a starting job by Jose Martinez, the Missouri native quickly rewarded Yankee GM Brian Cashman’s confidence in him by batting .333 with 14 home runs a 1.095 OPS in 39 games.

He followed that up in 2019 with more impressive mashing, again batting .333, this time with 17 homers and a .959 OPS in 78 games. An All-Star berth seemed to be in his future when disaster struck.

An abdominal injury suffered while running the bases put him on the shelf for two months and when he returned in late August, he clearly wasn’t the same player, as reflected in his final stats (.262, 21, .842). But offseason surgery appears to have corrected the problem.

This year, he’s managed to stay healthy while mates Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres have landed on the IL. More importantly, he’s been his old self, as of late August batting .311 with 10 homers and a 1.115 .OPS in 21 games. At the moment, he’s the centerpiece of an offense that’s expected to be swinging away well into October.

Voit can be seen in action Sunday, Sept. 20, on TBS, when the Yankees close out a three-game series at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.