Trade deadline acquisition Harrison Bader homers again for Yankees in ALDS

CLEVELAND — The Yankees acquired injured Harrison Bader at the trade deadline because they hoped that when he healed, he would provide speed and defense in centerfield.

He has. But in the American League Division Series against the Guardians, he also has provided unexpected power.

With the Yankees facing elimination on Sunday night in Game 4 at Progressive Field, Bader cracked a two-run homer in the second inning in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory.

“He’s electric, really,” winning pitcher Gerrit Cole said. “An electric player, impact player. Got moxie, got baseball awareness, gets after the ball on defense. A lot of good things to say about that guy. He’s having a really good series so far. It’s obviously been fun to watch.”

It was Bader’s third home run of the ALDS. Entering the series, he had played in 10 postseason games with St. Louis and had never homered.

He also didn’t homer in the 14 games he played for the Yankees after returning from plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

After the controversial trade for lefthander Jordan Montgomery, Bader showed up at Yankee Stadium in a walking boot and vowed to help his new club when he was healthy.

He hit his first postseason home run, a solo shot, in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. It came off Cal Quantrill, who also served up Bader’s two-run blast on Sunday night.

Bader also hit a solo shot in the seventh inning of Saturday’s Game 3. It gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead in a game they ended up losing, 6-5, when Cleveland scored three runs in the ninth.

Bader’s career-high in home runs is the 16 he hit for St. Louis in 2021, when he also won the NL Gold Glove.

“I like to think I have it in my swing,” Bader said. “You don’t try to do anything. The only thing you really try to do is game-plan properly. Once the game starts, any time you try to force an action, I found it doesn’t really work well. For me, you get fast, you get sped up, and in a game where there is a lot of emotion behind every pitch, the only way to do it in my opinion is to slow it down. The game slows down, it’s a lot easier to execute your approach and what you’re trying to do.”

When Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acquired the 28-year-old Bronxville native at what seemed like a high price, it was for what Bader potentially could do in the playoffs and because he is signed for next year.

Hours after the Aug. 2 trade, Cashman said, “There’s a lot of optimism and belief that sometime September-wise, we’ll be able to unpack that present and deploy him as a choice for a manager.”

Bader said after Game 3 that he viewed his trade to the Yankees “serendipitously,” which is not a word you hear too often in postgame interviews.

Bader recently revealed that he attended postseason games in 2009, the last time the Yankees won the World Series. Did he picture himself one day wearing a Yankees uniform and hitting home runs in the playoffs?

“I just look to take advantage of it every single day,” he said. “It’s definitely sweet, but I’m here to play ball. I’m here to win. But to be able to do it in a Yankees uniform is definitely sweet, no doubt about it. That wouldn’t change regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the uniform.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.