Tough to justify Luke Voit's seat on the Yankees' bench
Yankees designated hitter Luke Voit walks to the dugout after being forced out against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Luke Voit woke up in his Atlanta hotel room on Monday morning and found out he had been named the American League Player of the Week.
Then he got to the ballpark and found out that honor comes with an attaboy from his manager . . . but not a spot in the lineup. Anthony Rizzo was at first against Atlanta at Truist Park.
Turns out the Yankees didn’t need much from either of them. Giancarlo Stanton drove in three runs in 5 1⁄2 innings before being double-switched out — National League rules and all, you know — and the Yankees went on to earn their 10th straight victory, 5-1.
Rizzo went 0-for-5 and has one hit in his last 14 at-bats since returning from a bout with COVID-19. Voit, who has been hotter than a firecracker, pinch hit in the eighth and drew a two-out walk to set up a two-run single by Gary Sanchez that expanded the Yankees’ lead to 5-1.
The Voit/Rizzo conundrum is just one of many tough playing time decisions Aaron Boone is going to have to make.
Monday’s call was particularly vexing because Boone didn’t have the designated hitter spot available for Voit. Thank you, MLB and union negotiators who couldn’t agree to bring the universal DH from 2020 to 2021. Well done. Good luck in avoiding a work stoppage in 2022.
Boone decided to go with Rizzo and not the hot hand (that’s "Hot Hand Luke," as Newsday’s back page cleverly put it on Saturday).
Voit has had two hot hands lately, both wrapped tightly around his bat, as he backed up his strong words about his deserving to play even after the Yankees acquired Rizzo.
It’s not just the last week. Voit has a seven-game hitting streak during which he is 13-for-26 (that’s .500) with three home runs and 13 RBIs. The Yankees won all seven games, and the two before that, as they and Atlanta both went into Monday on nine-game winning streaks.
It was the first matchup of teams with winning streaks of at least nine games since 1901. Voit started the night with a nice seat on the bench to watch it.
"He’s playing great," Boone said. "I think the biggest thing is he’s healthy. We know what kind of hitter he is when he’s healthy, and he’s obviously gotten some big hits for us in what was a very good week for us."
When the DH is in play, Boone can start both Voit and Rizzo, as long as Stanton can play the outfield and Aaron Judge can slide over to center. So far, so good with that, as Stanton and Judge both looked sharp in the outfield in Atlanta on Monday.
The Yankees have only four more DH-less games before the end of the season (Tuesday in Atlanta and Sept. 10-12 at Citi Field against the Mets).
Voit/Rizzo is just one decision that Boone will face once the Yankees get back Gio Urshela (maybe this week) and Gleyber Torres (maybe next week) from the injured list.
Urshela is easy. He starts at third base most of the time.
The stickier situation is what to do with Torres. Does he deserve to lose his starting job because of an injury if the player replacing him is doing the job better than Torres was before he got hurt?
Yes, we’re talking about the Bronx’s own Andrew Velazquez, the speedy switch hitter who has won fans’ hearts and has yet to stop smiling since he got the call to join his hometown team.
We all — even at our ages — have dreams at night in which we are playing in the major leagues for our favorite team. (It’s possible mine has me as a scrappy second baseman. I overplay my talent. It’s adorable.)
Velazquez is living that dream. It’s OK to both appreciate and envy him.
To be frank, Torres has been subpar on both sides of the ball for some time now. Boone is going to have to decide if he wants to go with the name (Torres) over the game (Velazquez).
Velazquez, who went 1-for-4 with a double, has given the Yankees a spark. If that continues, it shouldn’t be overlooked when Torres is ready to return from his thumb injury.
Perhaps a healthy Torres should start with a seat on the bench. He can sit next to Voit.
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.
