Luke Voit Wants A Piece Of The Home Run Derby & I Don't Like It

It’s only June and Luke Voit has already tied his career best 15 home runs. It’s a great accomplishment for him so now what? It sounds like Voit has more in mind then just regular season home runs….it sounds like maybe a trip to Cleveland for the Home Run Derby is in store.

It’s still a month away but Voit s already thinking about it. When he was asked if we would accept an invitation from Major League Baseball, his response was easy, “Hell Yeah!” read more HERE. He sounds ready to go, but should the Yankees share his enthusiasm in this? I’ve never really taken a hard stance on this one before. This year is different.

It would definitely be nice to see fan favorite Luke Voit go out there and hit dingers and make some money if he won the whole thing. He does it during a game and we get a thrill out of watching him hit there, especially when the game is on the line. Why not do it just for fun? No pressure….just a competition amongst the best hitters in baseball.

As much as I would love to watch Voit share the stage with other power hitters like Christian Yelich or even Cody Bellinger I really like the idea of him sitting out even more. We haven’t watched the Yankees compete in the Home Run Derby since 2017 when Aaron Judge won it all and we watched Gary Sanchez put on his own show defeating Giancarlo Stanton. It was exciting to watch. I’d love to watch a Derby like that again…..but not this year.

The Yankees are still dealing with injuries. As much as I want to watch Voit hit dingers and maybe even win it all I like the idea of doing everything we can to avoid new injuries. Voit is healthy and we need to do everything we can to keep him that way. Voit has been the power hitter we’ve been missing. Sitting out of the Derby is what is best for the Yankees and their still troubling injury concerns.

We’ve all had debates about if the Home run Derby really affects a player’s swing or if it doesn’t at all. I’ve always said the Derby is good for baseball. But what would be better for the Yankees would be for Voit to save the dingers for the games that matter.

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am paranoid and playing too safe but I’d rather be safe then sorry. I’d rather see Voit hit homers in games that count. Especially games that the Yankees can win and help get them back to the World Series.

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj