The New York Yankees will begin the 2021 season without Luke Voit manning first base.
Though he seems likely to miss only a third of the season or less (still bad!), Voit hasn’t let the minor setback take him down for the count.
After all, this isn’t his first attempt at dealing with disappointment.
Arguably the toughest Yankee — who among us can forget the “foot stuff” he battled through to play damn near every game in 2020 when the team needed him most? — Voit dropped us a motivational message late Sunday afternoon.
While the rest of his team is still fighting off injury scares in Florida for a few more days, Voit has returned home, and snapped a glimpse across the water of his home away from home, Yankee Stadium.
Rest assured, he will be back.
https://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1376260162118430729
Yankees first baseman Luke Voit is ready for the comeback.
After a minor surgical cleanup, the Yankees slugger will be taking three weeks to himself for rest and recovery, at which point he’ll swiftly ramp things up in preparation for returning.
In announcing the injury on Saturday afternoon, manager Aaron Boone didn’t hesitate before declaring Voit would be back “well before June”. Usually, Boone’s worst moments come when he waffles on the details. The fact that he was so declarative — mixed with Voit’s determined spirit, of course — has us weirdly confident that one Yankee injury might actually operate on an acceptable recovery timeline.
Of course, heading into the season without Voit at first base has Yankees fans considerably sadder than the man himself.
In the meantime, it’s time to fall in love with Jay Bruce and hope he punishes the short porch a few times during his stint as the starting first baseman.
We’re big believers in Voit, and we have no doubt that he’d prefer to fight through the pain instead of addressing it.
But like the first baseman told us on Thursday, this is about the long haul for the Yankees, who intend to finish the job this October instead of taking another lump.
New York will survive without Voit — but they’d rather not do so for very long.
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