A True Yankee?

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Texas Rangers v New York Yankees

Yesterday the San Diego Padres sent Third Baseman Chase Headley to the Bronx in exchange for Utility Infielder Yangervis Solarte and Pitching prospect Rafael DePaula. The trade itself is fairly innocuous; the Padres want to dump salary in exchange for young controllable players while the Yankees will hope that the changes Headley has made to his swing (going back to his old batting grip) will allow him to return to the form he had in 2012 as he hit 31 Home Runs while winning a Silver Slugger and finishing 5th in the National League MVP Race. In Road Games this season, Headley has hit .209/.290/.353 with 5 Home Runs, which is distinctly average. However, his .319/.319/.449 slash line in July has been far more acceptable (aside from the whole not walking thing, but that’s an anomaly) which is the reason the Yankees felt comfortable trading a good prospect for him in the shape of DePaula.

The Yankees expected Headley to arrive at their complex yesterday evening, show up in the dugout, watch a few innings, meet his new team mates. They probably didn’t expect Headley to take the field, there’s no way they expected him to secure the game-wining hit- which is exactly what he did. In the bottom of the 8th with the game tied 0-0, the Yankees pulled 3rd Baseman Zelous Wheeler and Pinch-Hit Headley- his first At Bat as a Bomber resulted in a Strikeout. Headley stayed in the game as the third baseman as it went to extra innings, grounding out in the 11th and grounding into a force out in the 12th. Then, in the bottom of the 14th, Brian Roberts hit a ground-rule double and advanced to 3rd on a single from Francisco Cervelli. Headley came to the plate with two men in scoring position and duly looped a single into Left Field, scoring Roberts and securing the walk-off.

As impact arrivals go, flying 700 miles to secure the win for your new team is certainly up there, and if Headley can continue to produce such theatrics in pinstripes then it won’t take long for the Yankee faithful to embrace him as one of their own; even if he’s only going to be around for a couple of months.

All statistics from Baseball Reference.

Category : MLB
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