Gio Urshela: New York Yankees Early Season Hero

Despite everyone doing their best Jacoby Ellsbury impression, the New York Yankees have managed to hold on to second place in the AL East. Gio Urshela has been holding the line.

The New York Yankees find themselves at 21- 14 sitting a game and a half out of first place at this point in the 2019 season. If you had told that to Brian Cashman and company at the beginning of the season, they probably would be happy with that recognizing they share a division with the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox and an always interesting Tampa Bay Rays team.

If you would have told them that their current Wins Above Replacement (WAR) leader would be off-season signing DJ LeMahieu, they might have wondered about Aaron Judge and then figured LeMahieu set the world on fire to start his Bronx career. Now if you told them that their second best player by WAR had been Gio Urshela, they would probably be pretty confused and start asking questions.

That, folks, is where the New York Yankees find themselves. Day in and day out, the Yankees lineup and pitching rotation seemed to have another man go down.

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The team’s medical department is likely spending its nights and weekends researching if Jacoby Ellsbury has become some sort of contagious disease. Joking aside, there are a number of Yankees who have stepped up to contribute but none have played like Gio Urshela so far. Urshela has been holding the line until reinforcements arrive.

First, raise your hand if you knew Urshela was playing for the New York Yankees. Ok, everyone including Brian Cashman put your hands down, we know you’re lying.

The moment I, and likely many of you realized this was when he made this ridiculous play to throw out Mookie Betts at first. That wasn’t even his best play of the season, watch this where he does his best Derek Jeter impression throwing out a would be run at home. Good things come in threes so enjoy another video of Urshela charging, bare-handing the ball, and throwing out a runner.

When Urshela came up with the Indians, the defense was never in question but rather if he would be able to hit enough to justify playing time. This season, Urshela is hitting like he never has before.

Currently, he is hitting .360/.424/.547 triple slash line, which translates to a ridiculous 161 wRC+. That mark is by far the best Urshela has ever hit at any level of professional baseball. If you lower the threshold to 80 plate appearances, his mark ranks 14th in baseball tied with the improved Jorge Polanco and with elite company like Alex Bregman. Not bad for a guy the Yankees got for nothing more than cash considerations after he was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays.

With near certainty, Urshela is going to regress with the lumber, but that doesn’t mean the New York Yankees may not have found a solid player to carry that can play 3B and a number of other positions as the need comes up. There are some encouraging signs that at 27, Urshela may finally be figuring out big league pitching. Probably not as a hitter with a 160 wRC+ but maybe one that could settle in the 120s.

Starting with Urshela’s Statcast profile, there are some a few things that stick out. For starters, Urshela is hitting the ball harder than he ever has before, with an average exit velocity of 89.9 MPH (hardest hit was 107.7).

Hitting the ball harder is always a good place to start when trying to break out as a hitter. In fact, this is the first year he has been better than average by exit velocity. That improvement is rippling throughout his other offensive numbers.

Currently, Urshela’s .340 expected batting average (xBA) find him in the top 2% of the league with guys like JD Martinez and Cody Bellinger. His weighted on-base average (wOBA) and expected slugging percentage (xSLG) are also near the top of the league leaderboard.

Urshela has posted some flashy raw numbers but the advanced statistics back up his hot start. So what is Urshela doing differently now than in the past?

Looking at plate discipline, one finds that Urshela is striking out and walking more than he has before with K% and BB% of 12.9% and 7.9%. His overall swing rates aren’t all that different from his career norms so it has to be something else.

The smoking gun, if you will, comes from looking at his batted ball profile. Last season, Urshela tried to hit more fly balls but to no avail. This season, Urshela lowered his launch angle and is hitting more line drives. His batted ball percentages (LD/GB/FB) this season have been 31%/43%/26% compare that to his career rate of 24%/43%/33%.

In addition to those changes, Urshela has shifted his approach to work in the middle and pull side of the field. Before, he would slap the ball the other way and hope for the best. Now he is taking advantage of his gains in exit velocity to dominate that side of the field. Looking at the numbers in 2017 and 2018, Urshela had a Pull% of 30% and 24% respectively. Now, his Pull% is 37% and his Oppo% is a career low of 25%. All of these changes represent a complete overhaul of his entire offensive profile.

Urshela’s current swing geared towards line drives is paying dividends in a big way. He also doesn’t have to be reliant on home runs or maximizing contact because he strikes out at a below average rate. While the opinion of some that Miguel Andujar could now be trade bait seem a bit premature, it only emphasizes how well Urshela has played so far.

Next. Joey Gallo hits 100 homers before 100 singles. dark

He isn’t *this* good and it’ll be interesting to see how pitchers adjust to him, however, Urshela is proving that he can be a useful player on a contending team. Urshela has already bested his season and career WAR total and will seek to build on that number as the season goes on. No team ever wants injuries but sometimes players shine when given opportunities. That’s what Gio Urshela has done and it has helped keep the New York Yankees competitive despite a laundry list of injuries.

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