Gio Urshela came to New York as a defensive substitution last season while Miguel Andujar went on the disabled list with an injury. This was not a noteworthy trade because Urshela was nothing to write home about. The Toronto Blue Jays had sent him to their Triple A team in Buffalo, New York prior to the transaction bringing him to the Big Apple. The Yankees traded for him because they saw something that the Jays did not see worthy of developing. They had a former MVP and All Star third basemen in Josh Donaldson manning the hot corner in 2018. While that was going on they also had one of the highest touted prospects playing on their Triple A Team in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who was poised to be the next hot corner man for the boys north of the border. The Yankees saw his potential and helped him develop his offensive ability so he could be a contributor to their team. I do not think they realized how important he would be to their organization.
Part of the reason that his importance to the Bronx Bombers was unexpected was that Urshela had never played over 100 games in any of his first three seasons. Statistically speaking, that is a small sample size. Additionally, since baseball is such a game of rhythm, meaning players need time to develop routines to really produce, this put another obstacle in the way that Urshela to prove his ability to play at the Major League level.
Urshela was playing in the shadow of Jose Ramirez, who was one of the big bats for the Cleveland Indians that season. Ramirez had better offensive numbers than the less proven Urshela. After the Yankees helped him with his mechanics, he had a breakout 2019 campaign. He ranked third on the Yankees in OPS. He had the second best batting average on the team behind LeMahieu and had the same BABIP as LeMahieu. BABIP, for those who do not know, stands for Batting Average on Balls In Play. This statistic measures the percentage of balls hit into the field that end up being base hits. Everyone going into the season knew that LeMahieu was a good player, both offensively and defensively. For Urshela to have comparable numbers after never playing a full season in the big leagues displays his untapped potential. Getting the opportunity to play every day allowed him to hit 21 home runs, knock in 74 RBIs and generating an OPS and batting average just a bit behind LeMahieu, Urshela hit .314 to LeMahieu’s .327.
This season he has the fifth best OPS on the team* while hitting five home runs and driving in 18 for the Yankees. The more injuries the Yankees have and the lack of production from guys like Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres displays how vital Urshela will be to their success down the stretch. He has also continued to be phenomenal defensively, which was to be expected.
For a guy that they got for cash considerations from the Toronto Blue Jays after he was designated for assignment he has blown everyone’s expectations out of the water. He has shown that he is not only good defensively but offensively as well. His stellar performance allowed him to nab the starting third base job for the New York Yankees over a struggling Miguel Andujar, who had been sent to their alternate site before injuries made them recall him back to the Major League club.
Simply put, Gio Urshela has no reason to not be, in the words of Yankees Radio Broadcaster John Sterling, “The Most Happy Fella!”
*Urshela now has the sixth highest OPS on the team but Clint Frazier has only played in 8 games this season compared to Urshela’s 23 games. Most of Frazier’s production thus far has come from facing the Red Sox, who have one of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball this year.
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