Luke Voit
Kathy Willens/AP

Luke Voit took batting practice and ground balls on Tuesday as he nears his return to the New York Yankees.

Luke Voit hasn’t played a game for the New York Yankees in August. The first baseman went down with a sports hernia injury on July 30, but he appears close to a return to the Bronx.

This is what every Yankees fan wants to see from Voit. The massive human being has taken a stranglehold on first base since arriving in New York. Voit has 19 home runs and 54 RBIs in 94 games this season and is a major reason for the team’s success.

He’s flown under the radar to a certain extent with the rise of guys like Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, and Gio Urshela. However, Voit is posting an .885 OPS this season. For reference, that’s higher than Torres (.880) while not far behind LeMahieu (.930) and Urshela (.951).

LeMahieu has filled in a handful of times at first base in Voit’s absence, but Mike Ford has been the everyday first baseman in Voit’s absence. Unfortunately, the undrafted man out of Princeton is struggling to produce. Ford has four home runs and eight RBIs while sporting an ugly .173 average.

Not to mention, Edwin Encarnacion is also on the injured list with a right wrist fracture.

Although Voit looks good in that batting practice video, it’s important to hold back overreactions to the session. The swing looks smooth and Voit appears to be moving well. But again, let’s not overreact…

Nevermind. Feel free to overreact Yankee fans. Voit parked two homers in his last two swings and the World Series is back on!


NY/NJ hoops reporter (NBA/NCAA) & sports betting writer for XL Media. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete.