Hoping for more production at first base, Yankees call up Chris Gittens

Hoping to improve their scuffling offense, the Yankees called up first baseman Chris Gittens from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup for the evening game against the Red Sox at the Stadium.

In 18 games with Scranton, Gittens posted an impressive 1.071 OPS with four homers, 11 RBIs and 20 walks. His promotion is the corresponding move to sending pitcher Nick Nelson to Scranton on Friday night.

The Yankees can go nowhere but up in terms of production from the position: Their first basemen have a .531 OPS this season and rank 29th of 30 in MLB. Intended starter Luke Voit has been limited to 10 starts by injury and Jay Bruce and Mike Ford totaled 28; Bruce has retired and Ford has been demoted to Scranton. DJ LeMahieu slid over from second base and started 10 games there as well.

Gittens said he was in bed after Scranton’s Friday game when his phone rang around midnight. On the other end was senior director of player development Kevin Reese. The seven-year minor-leaguer said Reese’s words were "they need you. . . you’re playing first base with the New York Yankees tomorrow."

Said Gittens, "I was shocked."

"He's earned the opportunity to be here with what he's done throughout his minor-league career," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "[He] had a good spring with us, just carried that into the season and he's earned this opportunity. He can continue to earn more."

Boone didn’t want Gittens to go into the game thinking he had to be the solution to the Yankees' offensive woes. His advice: "Be yourself."

Gittens' parents were expected to be at the Stadium for the game, which made a special day even more so. His father had not been to one of his games since he was picked in the 12th round of the 2014 draft, though he did watch games online.

"My dad told me in 2014 right when I got drafted . . . ‘I’m not coming to see you play until you make it to the big leagues,’ " Gittens said. "He said that he knows that I can make it to the big leagues and he wants to see me play in the big leagues. It was a lot of motivation, a little push for me to get where I am right now."

On Saturday, with Gittens at first, LeMahieu slid back to second. If Gittens sticks with the team, it could have a real impact on second baseman Rougned Odor, who entered Saturday batting .182 in 123 plate appearances. Also problematic for Odor is that Voit is expected to return from an oblique injury sometime in the second half of June.

Scoreless inning for Britton

Lefty reliever Zack Britton, out all season after surgery to remove a bone chip in his elbow, made the third appearance of his rehab assignment, pitching one scoreless inning with two strikeouts for Double-A Somerset. Asked how close he might be to rejoining the Yankees, Britton said he’ll know better after pitching Tuesday, but the target is to return during the club's upcoming road trip.

Britton said he felt more in sync than he did the previous time out and added, "Now it's just about continuing that, getting a little sharper here and there and just cranking up the intensity . . . I’ve got to get my delivery in order before I start letting them rip."

Britton has not yet pitched on a single day of rest.

Extra bases

Starter Luis Severino will begin his road back from Tommy John surgery on Sunday when he makes the first start of his rehab assignment in Tampa. . . . Corey Kluber played catch and participated in pitcher’s fielding practice before Saturday’s game.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.