Yankees first baseman Luke Voit is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight, James Wagner of the New York Times reports. The Yankees are hopeful Voit will rejoin them when they begin a homestand next Friday, per Wagner.
This has been an injury-limited summer for Voit, who has been dealing with core problems since the end of June. He landed on the injured list July 2 with an abdominal strain, returned after 10 days off and then wound up back on the shelf July 31 on account of a sports hernia. There was fear then that Voit would require season-ending surgery, which looked all the more concerning when fellow first base option Edwin Encarnacion suffered a fractured right wrist in early August. But it appears the first-place Yankees will at least welcome Voit back this season.
Dating back to the most recent appearances of Voit and Encarnacion, New York has turned to DJ LeMahieu and Mike Ford at first. LeMahieu, of course, is a batting title contender who has proven himself as one of the best free-agent signings of last offseason. On the other hand, Ford has logged below-average production over the first 102 plate appearances of his career.
He’s no Stephen Vogt, or Jack Voigt, but damnit I hope he gets better, on a human level