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Mike Ford the New York Yankees’ Fix at First?

New York Yankees are off to a 6-9 start and the worry is setting in through the fan base. After losing the first three series at home, a place the Bronx Bombers have excelled since Yankee Stadium III opened. The Pythagorean Record shows they have been unlucky at times this season, 9-6 vs 6-9, even with the injuries, New York has flopped losing series to the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox; three of the worst teams, on paper, in the league. Many are beginning to look at the minor leagues in hope to give this a team boost like in years past.

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There has been poor play but guys who’ve been relied on early have struggled in the offense, especially from the left side of the plate. On the surface the Yankees as a whole sit steady with a 114 wRC+, which ranks 10th in the Majors, ranking being benefited by putrid offenses around the league with 14 teams producing less than 100 wRC+. However, considering just the left side of the plate, a side tailor made for Yankee Stadium which has become drastically thinner with the injuries to Didi Gregorius and switch hitter Aaron Hicks has slashed 174/.317/.405 through the team’s first 17 contest. All four lefty hitters who have appeared this season for New York have accumulated a negative fWAR this season. Only Miguel Andujar who was injured after three games with a torn labrum also has a negative war amongst position players. Tyler Wade and Mike Tauchman have only received occasional at bats in utility roles leaving the hole to be felt more by Brett Gardner, who’s been forced into more action than anticipated in centerfield with Hicks out and Greg Bird who is becoming an unexpected regular in the middle of the order.

Gardner is tougher to find an initial replacement, where the most realistic fix being him moving down in the order like Manager Aaron Boone did Sunday against the White Sox and replacing him with DJ LeMahieu. The same might not be true however for Greg Bird. Bird has drawn ire from fans and might see his next step of any potential bounce back occur at Triple-A. Over the past week the rumblings to cut ties with Bird have grown louder as the play of left handed hitting first basemen Mike Ford’s play has erupted for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders

Ford in nine games this season has slashed an mind-boggling .471/.525/1.029 this year after a full season at Triple-A where his numbers sat at .253/.327/.433 in 102 games in 2018. Ford also brings a more line to line approach at the plate pulling the ball only 36.7% of the time according to Fangraphs while still hitting towards center and the opposite field over 30% each. Gio Gonzalez after Sunday’s RailRiders win, said that Ford deserves to be in the Majors right now. "He is ghost pepper right now. That guy is ghost pepper. He’s scorching hot," Gonzalez said to Conor Foley.

Ford is not currently on the 40-man roster making a corresponding move necessary and the final obstacle for the 26-year-old Princeton product to make his Major League debut. To make room on the 40-man the Yankees could DFA Bird and cut ties completely but more realistically you will see a Jacoby Ellsbury transition to the 60-day Injury List.

Ford offers the right tools to help fill some holes for the injury plagued Yankees especially if they decide to cut ties with Greg Bird after several underwhelming and injury hit seasons. The last step it is to see if Ford can maintain above replacement level production after any promotions.

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