The impact of a Luke Voit return

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Throughout an injury-plagued season for the Yankees, the team has seen the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Luis Severino on the shelf for extended periods of time. Stanton remains out heading into September and Severino has yet to make an appearance this season. But, one setback that may be even more significant than the  others is that of Luke Voit. Don’t get me wrong, the Bombers put together a solid platoon led by DJ LeMahieu, who continues to play Gold Glove defense at three of the infield spots and that bat is just a cherry on top. Along with Mike Ford, while playing solid defense over at first, his hitting does not come near what Voit does in the middle of the lineup.
Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP


Not only has Luke brought great power to the Yankees lineup since being acquired at the 2018 deadline, he has molded into a player that fans could only have dreamed of after the failed experiment known as Greg Bird. After a sports hernia injury on a swing from Voit made the Yankees universe feel uneasy back in late-July, his season looked in jeopardy staring in the face of a possible season-ending surgery. Along with the stats that can be seen from just witnessing Voit play all season, possessing 19 HR with a .278 AVG and .885 OPS, his importance to this lineup runs much deeper than that.

Voit currently sits as the best player in baseball at swinging at pitches in the strike zone and holding off on pitches outside of the zone. He sits at 76% at swinging at pitches inside of the strike zone and a 25.8% at swinging at those outside of the zone. This margin is good for the best in the MLB. This allows him to work around counts and makes opposing pitchers lock in while pitching to him.

Among many reasons to love having Voit in the daily Yankees lineup, he continues to find himself in high pressure situations and continues to come up big in them. He was the unexpected grail, filling an enormous hole the Bombers had at first base for what seemed like forever. Voit starts his rehab assignment with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre today and is looking to make a return to pinstripes in the coming weeks and be a major contributor come playoff time. 

Article by: Dustin Miles

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