Luke Voit hoping to win Yankees' first-base job ... with his glove
That might not have been so tough a question in the past. But thanks to an iPad, a couple of cameras, offseason time with a Yankees assistant and a newfound respect for the defensive side of the game, Voit is focused on turning his biggest weakness into a strength.nike nfl jerseys cheap china
He knows his defense could play a key role in getting his name on the Yankees' Opening Day lineup card.
"Defense is something I never really took pride in coming up in the minor leagues, and it kind of showed a little bit," Voit said.
In 32 games with the Yankees last year, it sure did.
Following the trade-deadline deal that sent Voit from St. Louis to the Bronx, the first baseman made just two errors, but his advanced defensive metrics were significantly worse. According to FanGraphs, Voit's minus-7 defensive runs saved in 2018 was the second-worst mark among all big-league first basemen who played at least 250 innings at the position.
"Now I'm kind of understanding defense is just as important as hitting," Voit said. "You've got to make those plays to win games."
Bird fared slightly better in the field during an injury-plagued season, but according to FanGraphs, he, too, had a negative defensive runs saved figure (minus-3).cheap nfl nike jerseys from china
"Both guys have shown up here looking in a little bit better place defensively to me," Boone said this past weekend. "Last year, [Bird] was having a hard time getting the reps he'd like to see in practice because he was trying to stay off that foot."
During spring training last March, Bird experienced discomfort in his right foot, stemming from an injury the previous year. The lingering pain ultimately required surgery that took him two months to recover from. Even when he got back to playing regularly, Bird struggled both in the field and at the plate, finishing the year with a .199 batting average. As a result, Voit became the Yankees' primary starter at first, and he delivered -- offensively.
Voit's 14-homer barrage across the final five weeks of the regular season helped him earn the unofficial designation of "man to beat" in this spring's first-base battle.
