Yankees: 3 NYY players most impacted by Luke Voit surgery news
![Mar 14, 2021; Dunedin, Florida, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce (30) reacts during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2021-2F03-2F15729630-850x560-ecbd7afa44303319825280c0e6c867c8.jpg)
The Yankees couldn’t possibly let spring training end without an unexpected surgery, now could we?
It’s simply not the Yankee Way.
After beat writer Bryan Hoch rightly noted on Saturday morning that Luke Voit had been held out for two consecutive games, the hammers came in quick succession. First, Jay Bruce made the opening day roster, setting off serious alarm bells. Then, Aaron Boone quickly clarified he was the everyday first baseman, and Voit was about to take three weeks off from baseball activities after a surgical cleanup.
Not the maximum harm, but certainly some foul. We’ll see him well before June, supposedly.
It’s not an exaggeration to say Voit’s absence changed the roster calculation 100% in the final hours before everything became official. Bruce had opted out, and would’ve left the team the very next day if New York hadn’t made this emergency alteration.
He’s not the only one who earned either a second life — or extra pressure, or a role shift — with Voit’s impending absence looming over this roster.
Is the Yankees offense still great? Of course! Get your finger off the panic button, though it’s fair to be annoyed, saddened and dismayed.
These three players will have a much larger role in the season’s first sprint, and though it may sometimes be for the worse, it won’t torpedo the campaign.
![Feb 26, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce (30) smiles during spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2021-2F03-2F15636175-4c3a14dcf1544f8bfce7d5934ad90768.jpg)
3. Jay Bruce
We’ll start with the Captain Obvious portion of this piece. Bruce’s future went from entirely uncertain to an assured starting gig in a bizarre, isolated 24-hour window. Enormous change!
Instead of reckoning with hitting the market during yet another COVID season, Bruce will instead slot in sixth or seventh in the Opening Day lineup, and will look to pepper the short porch as many times as possible prior to May 15. That’s his stated goal now.
Could things be worse? Of course! This decade, the Yankees relied upon both Lyle Overbay and Chris Carter to start at first base. Bruce is a low-.200s reclamation project who shouldn’t be counted on to show off his 2017 vintage, and he will be a step back, but he’s a professional leader who many fans were worried about losing for nothing a day ago.
Now, there’s a very good reason for his presence. The team could certainly be in more dire straits.
We won’t pretend like Bruce isn’t a step back, though, and a relatively large sample size of numbers bears that out.
Make no mistake, this is big loss to start the season. Voit vs Bruce is a huge drop off for the #Yankees
— Steve Angelovich (@angelsteve89) March 27, 2021
Past 3 seasons:
Voit
221 games / 58 HR / .278 BA / .371 OBP / 143 OPS +
Bruce
224 games / 41 HR / .217 BA / .282 OBP / 95 OPS+
For better or worse, the Yankees do finally have a bit more of that precious lefty balance in the lineup, something fans hilariously begged for all offseason long only to watch it arrive on the verge of Opening Day in a monkey’s paw scenario.
All eyes are now on Bruce, but thanks to the Yanks’ padded lineup, there still won’t be much pressure on him.
![Mar 6, 2021; Bradenton, Florida, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Mike Tauchman (39) at bat during spring training at LECOM Park. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2021-2F03-2F15727657-dfd09b5c243115c88e275472592fbad7.jpg)
2. Mike Tauchman
Congratulations to Mike Tauchman, someone who went from watching his trade value be heavily scrutinized this week to back on the Yankees’ bench alongside Bruce on Saturday.
Bruce, not Tauchman, appeared to be the odd man out at the end of spring training, but there was no business as usual this time, and both men will now be on the big league squad.
The Voit injury could very well push Tauchman into the position he’s been begging to try for versatility purposes regardless, though.
Remember earlier this spring when Tauchman’s strongest case to avoid roster redundancy was his stated desire to try backing up first base? He’s always been a plus outfield defender, and he played first in college. It seemed like an interesting way to shove him onto the roster.
Though we haven’t seen even a second of such things all spring long, the backup first baseman is currently…DJ LeMahieu, after the Yankees opted to jettison Derek Dietrich prior to his roster decision deadline on Saturday. Does the team really want Bruce playing 45 out of 47 games or so just days after they were ready to cut him loose? How often do they want to shift LeMahieu to first and open up second base for…Tyler Wade?
Tauchman will likely get more run in the early going if he can back up Bruce. Congratulations on the roster spot. Now oil up that first baseman’s glove.
![NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 21: Tyler Wade #14 of the New York Yankees in action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2019 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 7-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2018-2F08-2F1190861186-ac284e84aae37b0971081649d12aaf31.jpg)
1. Tyler Wade
Has Tyler Wade earned a spot on this Yankees roster? Not particularly. He struggles with the bat, and his defensive versatility only takes him so far.
Also, whether the official scorer was being harsh or not, his back-to-back errors Friday night were bad optics at a critical juncture of his career.
So, now we’re here. Wade made the Opening Day roster, which always felt like an unfortunate inevitability. But now, without Voit, LeMahieu will likely play first more often over the season’s first few months, giving Wade plenty of starts out of the nine hole.
We prefer Tauchman at first every so often, and we’d enjoy the Yankees coming to their senses. But we also don’t make the rules.
The legendary Kid Mero put it best:
https://twitter.com/THEKIDMERO/status/1375854955798667265
In 24 hours, Wade went from an annoying gnat buzzing around the roster bubble to someone who will once again start 10 games in the season’s first month or two unless the Yankees take drastic position-shifting action.
This is why we begged for another true backup shortstop option all spring long. Derek Dietrich was fun…until we remembered he can’t play short, and was basically in camp as a showcase. Pointless.
Can the Yankees survive Voit’s absence? Of course they can. But in keeping his seat warm, Bruce isn’t the real problem here.