The bat flip. Sucre's reaction. That crowd pop.
SIR DIDI GREGORIUS. pic.twitter.com/JETwlQzLdU
— Evan Daniel (@itsevandaniel) April 3, 2018
Bow down to the incredible Sir Didi Gregorius! The New York Yankees shortstop launched his second home run of the day to put the team on his back.
He’s not a home run hitter. At least, that’s what Didi Gregorius says when asked about his power stroke.
Regardless, it doesn’t matter to the New York Yankees what kind of a hitter Gregorius labels himself, as long as he keeps doing what he’s doing.
Today, he broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run shot just barely over the wall in right in the third inning. He followed that up with a no-doubter three-run blast into the second deck in right.
The hits just keep coming for Didi, who entered today’s game with a career .308 batting average against Chris Archer. This marks his third hit of the afternoon, with all seven of his hits this season being for extra bases.
This is only his second multi-hit game of the season and he now is tied for the team lead in home runs (2) with Giancarlo Stanton and Tyler Austin.
But let’s talk more about this three-run blast. First of all, Gregorius took an 0-2 fastball into the stands for three runs. It’s incredible how confident Didi was in that swing.
Second, let’s take a look at the anatomy of the bat flip…or should we say, the bat drop. At a quick glance, Didi’s bat drop looked quite similar to something Aaron Hicks might do after pimping a solo shot to right.
Perhaps the best part (besides the crowd exploding as soon as the ball hit the bat) of the whole scene is the reaction of the Rays’ catcher, Jesus Sucre.
He immediately knows and he immediately makes it known that this is less than ideal. While I don’t want to open up old wounds, I will say his reaction reminds me a lot of what David Robertson looked like after he gave up a booming grand slam to Justin Smoak just days ago.
No matter what the postgame tweet says, Didi Gregorius is the hero for the Yankees. Don’t you ever forget that.
