Yankees first baseman Luke Voit has been activated from the injured list, the team announced Tuesday. Additionally, right-hander Darren O’Day and lefty Justin Wilson both embarked on rehab assignments with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. First baseman Chris Gittens was optioned after the Yankees’ game on Sunday, so the team had a vacancy on the active roster.
Voit, 30, has appeared in just 12 games so far in 2021. A torn meniscus required surgery and pushed his season debut back to May 11, and he went down with an oblique strain just two weeks later. That injury ultimately kept him on the shelf for just shy of a month.
Last summer’s Major League leader with 22 home runs, Voit showed some definite signs of rust in his first stint with the Yankees this year. He came out of the gates with an 0-for-10 skid and posted an overall line of .182/.280/.250 in 50 plate appearances before going down with his second injury. He’s looked much better on a rehab stint split between Double-A and Triple-A this time around, going 8-for-19 with a pair of homers and a pair of doubles in 20 plate appearances.
First base has been a black hole in the lineup at Yankee Stadium this season. Yankees who’ve been penciled into the first base position this year have combined for a miserable .176/.263/.285 slash in 267 plate appearances. DJ LeMahieu has seen the bulk of the playing time at first base, but while he’s hitting .259/.333/.352 on the season as a whole, he’s at just .234/.303/.324 as a first baseman. Voit, Jay Bruce, Mike Ford, Chris Gittens and Miguel Andujar have all seen time at the position as well, without much to show for it.
A healthy Voit would be a major boost for the Yankees, who are currently tied with the Marlins for the fifth-fewest runs in baseball (281). Voit not only led the Majors with 22 long balls last season, he batted a combined .279/.372/.549 with 57 homers in 892 plate appearances from the time of his 2018 acquisition from the Cardinals through the completion of the 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, the Yankees have posted a middling .232/.315/.389 batting line as a team in 2644 plate appearances this year.
Bye bye Odor. You’ve been stinking the place up.
Unless they release him he isn’t going anywhere, to much $ still on his contract
Rangers are paying Odor’s salary, @609.
I don’t think Voit’s return has any bearing on Odor. Hence, why Gittens was sent down.
Also: that is an abysmal slash line for a guy who signed a $90MM deal no matter what position (besides pitcher I guess). DJ needs to get going, & I don’t care how much slack Yankee fans want to cut him.
Good to see Luuuuuuuuuke back, though.
We can certainly use him.
He’s also on pace to reach a new career-high on K’s which is concerning.
Could have gone all day without hearing that, @Creature.
.685 OPS is terrible.
He’s also been to the plate in lots of big situations & hasn’t come through over & over. & his once lauded defense has cost us games too.
Though I wasn’t opposed to re-signing him, I did post many times over the winter that the Yanks would’ve been better off splitting that money up.
Bottom line: LeMahieu needs to start earning his paycheck. If we are going to claw our way back into the East race DJ needs to get going.
I didn’t like the move. He is a decent+ player, and I expect another good year from him, but I don’t think, and have never thought, that DJ and Torres could be on the same team. Neither can play SS, you guys don’t need a 3B (and neither can handle 3rd anyway), and if you put Torres at 2nd, and DJ at 1st, then you undermine DJ’s value, and then you need to move Voit.
And now, what do you do for 2022? Do you keep the faith and put Torres back in SS (I would hold my nose and pick this option) or do you spend more money for one of the big SS FAs?
Odor has given the Yanks exactly what one would expect from Odor. No surprises or disappointments. He is what he is.
I’ve got a couple of Like Voit Rookie Card for sale if anyone is interested. Lol. He seems like a good dude, I hope he can stay healthy.
How many Mike Ford rookie cards do you want for one to trade? Manufactured by Lipton.
I have about 15 of the 2017 Topps update maybe 5 of the chrome version . A few refractors and one vintage stock numbered to 99
Which ones do you have and how much Are you asking for
Astros fan here to say this : facing Yankees in post-season doesn’t terrify me like it did in 17, 18 & 19, but they can’t possibly be as bad as they have looked this season.
Their problem is, I think
1. They have NO PRO hitters, a la Yuli Gurriel & Michael Brantly – they did during their most recent dynasty
2. They seem to lack….guts – except for Cole maybe. They did not lack guts during their most recent dynasty.
3. Oh, and defense & fundamentals. Y’all need those.
^^^^^^^ I’m hoping to snag a convo with Ducky with this post 🙂
Man…you completely had me too!
Gotta work on your patience, bro. The decoys were set,the boat was camouflaged, the dog was quiet, & the timing was good.
But ya jumped the gun, lad.
LOL! Just want to say, I enjoy your knowledge, your writing, and your decency
Plus, I’m a pretty darn objective observer, don’t really hate any players or teams, appreciate what the Yankees have done over the years, but the real triumph since ’65 is that mostly home grown Jeter et al team. Awesome.
Next time just post something ripping on Gary Sanchez. That one gets me every single time.
This is certainly an ugly team to watch. Not much to argue about there.
Tell ya though.
Those Bronx Zoo clubs were my personal favorites. & – even though we came up short – 2017 was one of my favorite MLB seasons.
not gonna rip on Sanchez, because he takes quite enough heat already from Yankee “fans”
I think though that you guys should re-examine priorities at the catcher position
Dunno.
Phat Sancho is playing pretty well right now.
Both sides of the ball.
I know Yankee fans want to see a “gold glove LH .300 hitting catcher” or whatever. But every time I inquire whom exactly that is, the response is a “gold glove LH .300 hitting catcher” or whatever. Like there are dozens of those around.
Just go down to the catcher tree, uh?
& around it goes.
But Sanchez is absolutely not the problem with our squad.
I think Yankee fans would see more wins regular and post-season if they understood the value of a .230 hitting catcher who runs the show and makes the pitchers better. Teams DO win championships without a Dickey or Berra back there.
“Defense fundamentals” from a team on fringe of setting the MLB single season triple play record?
DEFENSE AND Fundamentals. Yankees don’t particularly major in those.
But they’re writing the book on triple plays: “The Art of Rally Killing”
When I saw in the headline that Luke Voit was “activated,” it made me think that he is a robot that was just turned on.
Please dont joke about that.
If it’s offensive to robots, they might take it away.
“Luuuuuuke!!!”
Yessir.
Just went yard, too.
Man, do we need him.
Hear, Hear!
Wish mlbtr had a friends list. Let’s go, Yankees!
Samer
Only a double and single away from a cycle!
Damn.
Tough game fellas. Voit made some real noise & DJ had an encouraging game at the plate. 5 runs tonight. That *should* be enough. Loaisiga got blown up. He’s been nails but that was quite the implosion.
Tough loss.
Ah, well.
Just win series. Get ’em tomorrow.
I’ve been saying that all along. For better or worse, he’s your MVP. If you replace him with DJ, it leaves a gaping hole in the IF. And there were no other options. This is a completely different team with him in the lineup, and DJ at 2B.
Odor get rid of him. Trade Gleyber and Frazier this year please.
This is the lowest their value will ever be.
Odor, Gleyber and Frazier need to go…