The Yankees announced Tuesday that they’ve activated first baseman Luke Voit from the 10-day injured list. The 30-year-old slugger missed the first five-plus weeks of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, but he’s been on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Scranton and is now set to make his 2021 debut. The Yankees announced after Sunday’s game that Miguel Andujar was optioned to Scranton, and they’d yet to announce a corresponding move, so Voit will fill that spot on the roster.
Voit led the Majors with 22 long balls during last year’s shortened season, batting .277/.338/.610 overall. He’s been a revelation since coming to the Yankees in a trade that sent setup man Giovanny Gallegos to the Cardinals, as he’s seized the everyday first base job on the strength of a .279/.372/.543 with 57 homers in 897 plate appearances.
The return of Voit should be a spark for a Yankees lineup that has struggled to gel over the course of the season. A revitalized Giancarlo Stanton is in the midst of a hot streak for the ages, but as a whole, the Yankees are tied for 21st in the Majors in runs scored, 24th in batting average (.222) and 19th in slugging percentage (.381). Their collective .320 OBP is still the seventh-best mark of any team in the game, but the Yankees have received sub-par production from the likes of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier to this point.
First base, in particular, has been a black hole for the Yankees. DJ LeMahieu is hitting well overall but hasn’t been as productive when slotted in at first base — a reality that is merely coincidental — while Jay Bruce, Mike Ford and Miguel Andujar haven’t produced in their opportunities there. Through 144 plate appearances, Yankees first basemen are batting .150/.250/.244 so far in 2021.
Here come the bombs!!!
A bunch of solo shots with this lineup. DJ and Gio are the only ones that don’t try to hit a HR on every swing.
I’d understand if u were diamondbacks or pirates hovering around 500 and voit comes back. That would give u something to get pumped about ! But when you are the New York Yankees….Luke Voit ?? Meh…..
uhhh I’m a sox fan but he led the Majors in homers last year… so what are you talking about
His bat and clubhouse presence was definitely missed. Hopefully he can help kick start the Yankees offense. Voit was raking in the minors so it appears that he is indeed ready.
NYY will take command of the AL-E.
Lol
Yankees are 7-12 against the AL East.
People say the Cards GM messed up trading Voit but the Cards ended up getting a great reliever in Gallegos. Obviously Voit is better and a everyday player but people overreact by saying the Cards screwed up.
It was a mutually beneficial trade. Yankees had a surplus of bullpen arms and the Cards had 1st base covered so it definitely worked out for both teams.
Agree
Having Goldschmidt at first and Gallegos in the back end of the pen is a lot better for us, in my opinion. Voit is great and all, but the Cardinals roster is in better shape with that trade
100%. add in that Voit would have nowhere to play in STL now and it’s something of a no brainer to have dealr him eventually.
As a Mets fan I would have have gallegos since you know we already have a better 1B
Luke Voit is one of my favorites but he too is going to struggle without some support around him. It is a fact that with Judge, Stanton and Voit in the lineup the Yankees are a different team. Torres will now get more pitches to hit and Urshella has been steady all season. The weak spots now appear to be Hicks (.231 lifetime) and Sanchez (.234 lifetime). Sanchez’s average is propped up my his first two years in the league.
Who was sent to AAA to make room for Voit?
Thanks for asking the obvious question.
Ford, of course.
Seems as though I was wrong. Oops.
Ah, sorry. Today’s announcement was just Voit coming off the injured list. They announced Sunday that Andujar was optioned, but I suppose I should’ve included that in there for those who didn’t see. I’ll update now.
Andujar was optioned yesterday.
Kinda unfair to lump Andujar in as part of the Blackhole at 1B seeing as how he’s had two starts this season and only one of them at first base.
Also kinda stinks that he was the roster change and not Ford or Wade, but I guess if Gio’s healthy and ready to start at 3B after the few days off, it’s better for Andujar to be playing every day, even if it’s against competition that’s probably beneath him at this point.
Andujar is better off right now in the minors getting everyday at bats. And Ford’s left handed bat on the bench makes sense since everyone in the starting lineup is right handed (except for switch hitting Hicks).
Ford DFA when Odor is back. If Frazier doesn’t get it together soon then Andujar back up and in LF with Stanton.
Oh hey! Just what the Tankees need, another mediocre defender who plays 1B and just looks to hit HRs. That’s what they’ve been missing, right?
“Tankees”? What are you 12?
I mean there was a Yankee fan called Yank4Life that always said Red Suks and wouldn’t call the Rays “Rays” because they haven’t won anything
grow up
Technically, he didn’t “look” to hit home runs, he also actually hit them. And the Yankees are built to hit home runs, sooooo, your points, although seemingly intended to be insulting, are actually just stating an obvious, well known, successful approach to baseball.
In fact, this year, MLB batting average is the lowest in the history of MLB, hovering in the .230s. So, if they aren’t looking to hit homers, would we be better off if he were looking to walk?
Last point: run support is key to winning games. A home run is a run, nonetheless. It’s just an immediate run instead of all the in-between. It simplifies the game – Bomb, bat flip, run on the board, Statcast.
Pretty good news, man.
Yanks looked much better on their recent homestand. 7-2 & beat some decent clubs.
Feels like we’ve been getting closer ever since the Cleveland series.
Can’t do anything but help our offense, which has certainly been scuffling. Gleyber, Hicks, & Frazier been slowly crawling towards a respectable OPS. Adding Voit should have a trickle down effect for those guys.
Getting our players back from the IL, & seeing a little more life up & down the lineup is going to go a long way towards helping out our staff. They’ve been carrying us.
Not hitting on all cylinders yet.
Just gotta keep winning series’. Big one starts tonight.
Welcome back, Luuuuuuuuuke & Go Yanks!
Gleyber has to relax a bit and this may very well help him. Getting another big bat may allow Gleyber to see some better pitches more frequently. He almost swung out of his shoes in the Baltimore series. These guys are coming around and G is an absolute beast. The dude is crushing the ball constantly. Voit’s an important team presence and he’s going to hit – it’s what he does. Prepare for war ALE; we are coming!
Stanton is on a “hot streak for the ages”? Did I miss something? Hyperbole?
Stanton crushing it right now. My guess is – yes – you’ve missed something.
Stanton is not only destroying the baseball nearly every game, but he’s hitting at video game Statcast numbers. In the Cleveland(?) series he hit a line drive to RF @ 120+mph. Plus he looks healthy, he’s taking some monster swings, and he’s usually a slow starter.
Even as a Mets fan im happy to see Voit back for the Yankees. I think he smoothes out the lineup a little more if only putting people more in their regular lineup spots and hopefully improves defense as he is a solid defender and starts pushing dj back to his best position 2nd base when gio comes back.
Are you guys gonna trade that highly prized, over publicized prospect… what’s his name?
Refsnyder?