Luke Voit lies at heart of Yankees' success early this season

PHOENIX — Luke Voit stood near his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse in Port Charlotte, Fla. early in spring training in front of a small group of reporters.

He had homered in his first game of the spring that Feb. 24 afternoon against the Rays and afterward was asked, for what already seemed like the 100th time, about his battle with Greg Bird for the starting job at first base.

“I feel like everyone thinks last year was a fluke probably,” Voit said that day. “But I’m not going to let anyone else control [what I think of myself]. I’m going to do what I can do to get the job done and be the first baseman for the Yankees.”

The job, unquestionably, belongs to the 28-year old now.

It is in part because of yet another injury to Bird, but that’s only a small part. The most significant reason by far is Voit, who hit 14 homers in 114 at-bats after taking over everyday first-base duties from Bird last Aug. 24, did everything in the spring to keep the job and has kept it going one month into the regular season.

The Yankees entered Tuesday night’s two-game series against the Diamondbacks not only surviving the onslaught of injuries that have bedeviled them this season but thriving, having won 11 of their last 13 games, including a 6-1 record on this nine-game, three-city trip west.

And Voit, among the few regulars managing to stay upright so far, has led the way offensively, arguably the club’s MVP 28 games into the season.

The righthanded-hitting Voit, who came to the Yankees after a trade deadline deal with the Cardinals that at the time received little attention, entered Tuesday hitting .283 with a .935 OPS. His eight homers are tied with Gary Sanchez for the team lead and his 25 RBIs lead the way.

Included in the numbers is Voit’s performance from April 22-28 — a .433/.528/.867 slash line with four homers, 10 runs, five walks and 10 RBIs in seven games — that notched him AL Player of the Week honors.

“He’s a really good hitter and has obviously really caught fire on this West Coast trip,” Aaron Boone said. “The power, he’s getting off his ‘A’ swing a lot, but really controlling the strike zone. Look, it’s what we believe him to be. So it’s not surprising at all.”

Voit went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs in Sunday’s 11-5 victory over the Giants that helped complete a three-game sweep, with his first-inning walk extending the longest current on-base streak in the majors to 39 games. His two-out single with runners at second and third in the third inning was an especially nice piece of hitting as Voit took a 2-and-1 fastball thrown by righty Derek Rodriguez and took it the other way to the open right side of the infield, beating the shift.

“Just kind of staying with my approach,” Voit said. “I watched video last year of what I was having success with [and] I was having success staying up the middle and going to right-center. And if they make a mistake inside, I’ll make ’em pay for it, too.”

Voit continues making ’em — meaning the opposition — pay in the clutch as well. Since making his debut with the Yankees last Aug. 2, Voit is 20-for-54 (.370) with six homers, three doubles, 10 walks and 34 RBIs with runners in scoring position.

“I mean Luke, from the first moment he got here, he’s been a player for us that’s always produced and gotten the job done,” Sanchez said through his translator. “What else can I say about Luke? He’s a great baseball player.”