Yankees Didi Gregorius and Josh Rogers among those shaping the season
By Cory Claus
The Yankees started the season with high hopes for players throughout their organization. Now battles for positions are being settled while replacements rise, and even Sir Didi has added a new weapon to his already impressive arsenal.
The Yankees are starting to see themselves for who they really are.
Before the season, they and we made plenty of guesses about how players would do, especially the young and/or unproven. No one knew then there would be so many injuries and open competitions for spots, or even where prospects would end up playing.
But now we do. And we are starting to see the early returns. There are two or three minor leaguers making strong pushes to help the Yankees this season, and soon if needed, while the battle to fend off Gleyber Torres is almost settled.
However, it is with the ever-improving Didi Gregorius that we start.
Didi Has Added a New Weapon: OBP
Just how good can Sir Didi be?
Didi is hitting .327/.446/.796, which does not begin to tell his story. He is leading the team in HR (5) and RBI (16), as well as being second in both walks (12) and hits (16). His strikeouts (4), meanwhile, are minuscule compared to those of the other prolific hitters on this team: Judge 17, Sanchez 11, Stanton 27 and Austin 14.
But of all of those, the most significant is his OBP.
While Gregorius seems sure to remain a powerful bat in the lineup, his standing in many of these categories is likely to change. For instance, Didi spent much of the first half of last season hitting above .300. By the time it was all said and done, however, he ended at .287; the previous year, .276.
So he is likely to end the season somewhere lower than he is today, which would still be great. This is not to denigrate his wonderful 2017, merely to point out he will probably not sustain his high batting average.
And he is also unlikely to lead the team in most of these offensive categories when this season is over. Again, that’s fine; he doesn’t have to.
But his OBP, that he can maintain. I do not suggest he can keep its current value, no, just that he can keep the point differential between his BA and OBP the same. If he does that, he will add to a Yankees strength that can carry them back to the playoffs.