The Biggest Questions Facing the Yankees Offense for 2017

 Is Didi Gregorius For Real?

2016 saw Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius’s offensive production trend upward for the third consecutive year. As of this writing he has a .265/.310/.456 (102 wRC+) slash line with a career-high 17 home runs.

He’s been the team’s most consistent hitter all year and has earned a regular place in the middle of the lineup after regularly batting ninth to start the season. At 26, this is the shortstop’s first year as anything approaching a league-average hitter, so it’s an open question whether this is the new normal for Gregorius or we will look back on this as his career year.

Didi has always been seen as more of a defense-first player who would just barely hold his own with the bat. This year he’s been the fifth most valuable shortstop in the American League to date with 2.3 WAR according to FanGraphs. He also ranks fifth among qualified AL shortstops with a .456 slugging percentage and is tied for sixth with

in homers.

This power spike was an unexpected but welcome development for Gregorius. It’s just difficult to say whether he can continue it into 2017. If he can, the Yankees lineup will be considerably deeper. If Didi can establish himself as a quality number or two three type hitter, it would be a major boon for New York’s rebuild.

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