The New York Yankees lost star shortstop, Didi Gregorius, to injury on Saturday night. How could this affect the Bronx Bombers during their playoff push?
The New York Yankees suffered a costly loss in their playoff berth-clinching win against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night. An MRI on Sunday confirmed that star shortstop, Didi Gregorius, suffered a small tear in his right wrist while sliding into home while scoring the winning run.
This injury could cost the shortstop the rest of his season. Nothing has been made official, but as of now, Didi will be reevaluated in a few days after receiving a cortisone shot on Sunday.
Gregorius told the New York Post that he is just sore and that did not feel any pain until waking up on Sunday morning. Yankees Manager, Aaron Boone, was optimistic when asked about Gregorius’ status (New York Post).
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“I think there’s a real possibility we do [get him back]. There’s also a possibility that we don’t. We’ll know a lot more in a few days and see how the wrist responds to the cortisone shot.”
Even with the Yankees stacked line-up, this could be a huge loss for the Bombers.
Didi Gregorius was a force in the Yankees’ lineup. In 132 games, Didi hit 27 home runs, drove in 86 RBIs and slashed an impressive .268/.336/.498 with a wRC+ of 121. To put that into perspective, Giancarlo Stanton had a wRC+ of 121 prior to the start of play on Sunday. The Yankees will basically lose the production of another Giancarlo Stanton if Gregorius can’t play in the playoffs. This is a big loss!
If needed, how can the Yankees replace their star shortstop? The team has a number of internal options. The club could start veteran Adeiny Hechavarria or slide Gleyber Torres over to shortstop and play Neil Walker in his place.
From an offensive point of view, the New York Yankees will likely get the most production out of their lineup by moving Torres to shortstop and playing Neil Walker at second base. While Walker has not been great in 2018, he serves as a better offensive option over the defensive specialist, Hechavarria. Walker has a track record of being a solid offensive player throughout his career.
The only downside to this alignment is that Torres has struggled in his few opportunities at shortstop. In only 19 games, Gleyber Torres has committed five errors at the position.
Aaron Boone did not make any definitive statements on how the Bombers would plug Gregorius’s hole. Boone only told the media that the club would mix and match, depending on the match-ups.
Now looking at the bigger picture, I don’t think losing Didi will wreck the Yankees season, but they will surely feel his loss in the playoffs. Aaron Judge will continue to snap back into form as he gets more at-bats under his belt. In the end, this is a lineup that still includes Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez, and we can’t write a Yankees article without mentioning Luke Viot…
Didi Gregorius serves as the Yankees’ left-handed pop and his presence will surely be missed during the playoff push. Neither of the Bomber’s replacement options is ideal, but the New York Yankees should have the depth to withstand Didi’s loss.