MLB Rankings: We breakdown the best benches in baseball
By Phil Akre
MLB Rankings: 1. New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are blessed with a lethal lineup and an extremely effective bench.
On most game day’s, it’s made up of Ronald Torreyes, Aaron Hicks, Austin Romine and Neil Walker. The names don’t jump out and scream ‘superstars’ or over the top production. Rather, they beam with productivity.
New York Yankees
Torreyes, a once-random pickup from Brian Cashman, is truly a weapon as a plug and play starter or pinch hitter. In his three years with the Yankees, he’s hit a combined .296 as a primary bench player.
This season, he’s hit .340 through 53 at-bat’s, and he’s played everywhere in the infield except first base.
Another quiet pickup from Cashman includes Neil Walker, who has heated up of late. His .210 average looks terrible, but he’s hit .346 in the month of May.
He’s provided some fireworks, too, with a walk-off winner.
The organization as a whole is so deep that it currently has Brandon Drury in AAA and was able to call up former top prospect Clint Frazier to fill a spot.
Both would be full-time starters on the majority of MLB teams.
Romine, Gary Sanchez‘s backup, has proven to be invaluable to the team. He’s never been a threat offensively (career .225 hitter, 7 HR’s), but his defense is legit. More importantly, he’s drawn rave reviews from nearly every pitcher he’s worked with, too.
With Hicks’ slumping of late, it’s worth keeping an eye on Frazier. If he produces in his limited time in the bigs, he could supplant Hicks’ as an outfield option sooner than later.