Any Yankees fan with a little mad scientist in him or her will see the benefit of Luke Voit’s first career trip to the major league injured list.
What, you’re not curious to witness pinstriped life without the Voit Phenomenon?
Before arriving at Citi Field on Tuesday for the resumption of the Subway Series, the Yankees placed their starting first baseman Voit on the 10-day IL with what they called an abdominal strain. Manager Aaron Boone professed optimism that Voit, who sat out Sunday’s game against the Red Sox in London after sustaining the injury Saturday, could return during the Yankees’ first series after the All-Star break — July 12-14 against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
Based on the twists and turns the Yankees’ hurting players have taken this season, we know not to bank on that prognosis. The bigger question is, how much, if at all, will the Yankees miss Voit — a guy whom 99.99 percent of the Earth’s population underestimated prior to his arrival in the Bronx last August — during this absence.
“He’s been so good. Such a consistent performer for us,” Boone said of Voit before the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Mets. “An energy-giver in the clubhouse as well, obviously. A guy that means a lot to our team behind the scenes.
“But that consistency that [the media] talk about, it’s spot on. It’s by and large really good at-bats every day. The ability to get on base. The ability to hit with power. He’s gotten a lot of big hits for us. He’s done a really good job, I feel like, when he’s gotten into a little rut for a couple of days. He’s able to correct pretty quickly.”
For sure, he corrected a lingering, annoying plague for the Yankees: massive underperformance by their first basemen. Entering Tuesday night’s game, the Yankees’ first basemen had teamed to post an .817 OPS, with Voit recording 239 of the 364 plate appearances there. That marked the Yankees’ best results at that offense-first position, by far, since 2015 — when a Fountain of Youth-discovering Mark Texiera and pre-perpetually injured Greg Bird led the way in tallying an .852 OPS there.
Among the Yankees, Voit ranked fourth in offensive WAR, as per Baseball-Reference.com, through Sunday’s action, with 2.2. He trailed just the amazing DJ LeMahieu (3.5), the strong sophomore Gleyber Torres (2.9) and the resurgent Gary Sanchez (2.3).
In theory, the Yankees should survive Voit’s deactivation just fine thanks to their overall offensive depth, which grew with the recent acquisition of veteran slugger Edwin Encarnacion from the Mariners. Encarnacion started at first Tuesday, without the designated hitter at Citi, and probably will do the same on Wednesday, Boone said. For the Yankees’ four-game visit to Tampa Bay this weekend, with the DH back in play for Encarnacion, LeMahieu probably will get a start or two there, and the team also recalled Mike Ford, primarily a third baseman, from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Let’s see what occurs in practice, though. If the analysts saw something special in Voit’s exit velocity as he toiled in the Cardinals’ minor leagues, the 28-year-old has enhanced his value even further with his intangibles, which both his teammates and Yankees fans have grown to appreciate. Encarnacion, his legendary career notwithstanding, can’t simply replicate Voit’s energy level, nor, to be frank, the consistency he has brought to the job since arriving last year.
The decision to deactivate Voit, Boone said — even after Voit hit and fielded before Sunday’s game — reflected the club’s caution at a time when it is performing extremely well. As Boone put it, “Understanding this is something we obviously don’t want to make worse.”
Will Voit’s time on the shelf make the Yankees worse? If he misses only a couple of series, as hoped, then it might be an answer worth getting for everyone’s edification.