Yankees: Luke Voit adds balance to the bottom of batting order

Over the past 30 days, Voit is slashing .330/.404/.660 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs. He’s played so well, Yankees manager Aaron Boone has no choice but to keep him in the lineup, relegating Greg Bird to the bench.

The Yankees have had a revolving door at first base for the majority of this season. Rookie manager Aaron Boone has started Greg Bird, Neil Walker, Tyler Austin and Brandon Drury.

While Bird was supposed to be the full-time starter, he got injured and has been ineffective since his return. In the past 30 days, Bird is batting a disappointing .130, and there’s a good chance he won’t even make the Yankees’ playoff roster.

Since falling one game short of the World Series last year, the Yankees have championship aspirations this year. As long as you make the playoffs, how you got there during the season is irrelevant in October. Postseason success is all about getting hot towards the end of the year.

Enter Luke Voit.

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Voit’s superb play has solidified him as the Yankees starting first baseman heading into the one-game Wild Card against the Oakland Athletics. Voit started the year with the St. Louis Cardinals but was traded just before the deadline to the Yankees for relievers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos. With the Cardinals, Voit had only 125 career at-bats, so not much was expected when moved to the Bronx.

Voit had a few spot starts in August but has caught fire in September, right when the Yankees needed him the most. In the past 30 days, Voit is on an absolute tear slashing .330/.404/.660 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs. He’s played so well; manager Aaron Boone has no choice but to keep him in the lineup and relegate Bird to the bench.

What is most impressive is how effective Voit has been when he steps to the plate with men on base. Before Friday night’s contest vs. the Orioles, the 27-year-old was batting .356 with runners on and has seven homers. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting .273 with 11 RBIs.

He’s been even more locked in with two outs and runners in scoring position, slashing .375/.545/.875. When Voit gets ahead of the count at 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1, he’s batting an extraordinary .750, 1.000 and .429, respectively. He’s done a good deal of this against Boston and Oakland pitching, the likely Yankees’ opponents in the playoffs.

With the return of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton looking more comfortable at the plate, Voit adds more balance to the order. He’s not an automatic out, as Bird has been throughout much of the second half.

Voit is precisely the power hitter the Yankees need at the bottom of the lineup to keep pressure on pitchers. If he can keep his impressive hot streak going, it will take pressure off Judge and Stanton, and position the Yanks for a deep run in the postseason.