Harrison Bader has been a big catch for Yankees

TORONTO — Speaking recently about the impact rookie Anthony Volpe has had — on the bases especially — Harrison Bader offered a pithy quote that quickly made the rounds.

“The kid’s got juice,” Bader said.

The Yankees centerfielder would know. Since coming off the injured list earlier this month, Bader has engendered similar comments from Yankees teammates and staff.

“He’s a spark plug,” Aaron Judge said on May 10, eight days after Bader made his season debut having missed all of April with an oblique strain suffered in spring training. “He’s a Gold Glove centerfielder that’s hustling around the bases. Just his at-bats, his approach at the plate. He goes up there with a plan and he executes it. He brings that energy, man, and you need that when you’re playing 162 [games]. Things aren’t going your way, when you have a guy like that in the lineup that can ignite it with a big three-run homer, it’s special.”

The three-run homer Judge referenced came in an 11-3 rout of the A’s that night. Bader, a Bronxville native who grew up rooting for the Yankees, has been a spark on offense. He entered Thursday night's series finale against the Blue Jays hitting .300 with three homers and a .900 OPS in 15 games. Acquired last season from St. Louis for Jordan Montgomery, Bader is a free agent after this year. The Yankees do have an interest in bringing him back.

As much as the 28-year-old has provided a spark offensively, it is Bader’s defense that has the Yankees consistently raving about the NL Gold Glove centerfielder from 2021 while with the Cardinals. 

Their pitchers especially.  

The most recent example came in the second inning of Wednesday’s 3-0 loss when Whit Merrifield led off with a tailing liner to center. Off the bat, Gerrit Cole, and much of the visitors dugout, felt it was a sure hit. But a streaking Bader, charging to short left-center, made a head-first diving catch.

“I mean, him patrolling out there is like a cheetah,” said Cole, who gave a fist pump on the mound after the catch. “He’s so much fun to watch. Any time you can funnel the ball to the middle of the field in the air, Harry’s got a chance.”

While Wednesday’s grab was highlight-reel worthy, such catches seem to occur almost nightly of late. Tuesday, for instance, Blue Jays leadoff man George Springer started the bottom of the first with a liner almost to the same spot Merrifield hit his, only the ball came off Springer’s bat slightly harder. Bader, again diving, made the catch. Showing off his athleticism, Bader, lying flat on his back, did an effortless kick-up to get back on his feet.  

Then there was his grab Sunday against the Rays at the Stadium when, with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning, he tracked down a Randy Arozarena drive to left-center with a full-out dive that took him on the dirt track near the wall (the Rays, who won 8-7, got a sacrifice fly out of it instead of a bases-clearing double or triple).  

Bader doesn't lack for confidence in his abilities but he often downplays those kind of plays — “got a good bead on it and just tried to reel it in,” he said Sunday. He generally is the only one to do so.

“He’s so dynamic out there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s obviously a great athlete and runs well and is explosive and really throws well, but he’s fundamentally so good, too. He plays with a lot of energy and really hard to get himself into really good positions, good throwing positions, takes angles. There’s so many balls that go up that you think off the bat that maybe it’s an extra-base hit and more often than not he’s going and taking it down. He’s a really good one out there.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.