New York Yankees: Luke Voit not a lock for the playoff roster

Luke Voit has been a revelation for the New York Yankees, but he may not be a lock for their playoff roster.

If CC Sabathia wants his swan song to come in the postseason, the New York Yankees will have to win at least three postseason games. Yankees’ skipper Aaron Boone announced on Thursday that the soon-to-be retired hurler underwent a cortisone shot to help heal a shoulder injury, and will not be a part of the Yankees ALDS roster.

Could the 2018 phenom first basemen Luke Voit join Sabathia on the pine in various series throughout the playoffs?

On most major league teams, Voit would likely start every day at first base and hit in the middle of the order. Unfortunately for the right-handed slugger, Gio Urshela‘s breakout season at third base has pushed DJ LeMahieu to first base. With Edwin Encarnacion expected to be ready to go for Game 1 of the ALDS, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees sitting a player like Encarnacion, who smashed 34 home runs in just 109 games this season.

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That leaves Voit as the potential odd man out. Despite ripping 21 home runs and posting a solid .378 on-base percentage, Voit’s keen eye at the plate may not be enough for him to crack a reserve role throughout the postseason. Voit limped to the finish line in September, hitting .194/.326/.347 in 86 trips to the plate — including just one hit in his final 32 at-bats.

Voit’s .200 isolated power (ISO), which is calculated by dividing extra-base hits by at-bats, cements Voit as a threat to hit for power, but the Yankees may fear that he is a true boom or bust player.

Over the past two seasons, Voit has posted suspiciously high batting averages on balls in play (BABIP), which measures a hitters average on non-home run balls put in play. While the average MLB hitter typically has a BABIP of around .300, Voit posted a BABIP of .365 in 2018 and .345 this year — the 14th highest in baseball in 2019. This suggests Voit could be the benefactor of poor defense and luck, suggesting his already-mediocre .263 batting average could be inflated.

While Austin Romine and Tyler Wade are essentially locks for the Yankees bench throughout the playoffs given their positions, Voit will compete with Mike Ford, Clint Frazier and Cameron Maybin for the final two reserve spots. Should the team decide to take one slugger and one outfielder in each round, Mike Ford might have the advantage over Voit.

The 27-year old rookie posted stronger power numbers than Voit this season, albeit in less than half as many games played. Ford’s dramatic .301 ISO suggests he’ll hit for extra base hits in 30% of his at-bats, which is approaching Ruthian numbers. In 50 games for the Yankees, Ford hit .259/.350/.559 with 12 home runs over 163 plate appearances.

Perhaps the dagger in the comparison is that Ford struck out in just 17.2 percent of plate appearances this season, compared to Voit’s 27.8 strikeout percentage. Should the Yankees take down the Twins, they’ll be facing swing and miss machines like Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros or Charlie Morton and Tyler Glasnow of the Tampa Bay Rays, depending on the winner of the other ALDS series.

Despite being in just his third MLB season, Luke Voit seems to offer a veteran presence in the New York Yankees clubhouse. While this will be a tough call for Boone as he crafts his roster in each round of the playoffs, Voit may just be spending more time with Sabathia in October than he once hoped.