Aaron Boone admitted that Luke Voit’s meniscus tear played a factor in bringing Jay Bruce onto the major league roster, but the reasoning doesn’t matter for Bruce. He will be a Yankee on Opening Day, and he plans on taking advantage of the opportunity.
“I’m extremely excited about making the team,” Bruce said during a Zoom call with reporters on Saturday. “Obviously, the injury to Luke is disheartening for everyone. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. I went through a meniscus tear in 2014, so I know what he’s going through.”
Bruce will have big shoes to fill, especially after Voit led the league in home runs last season, but Bruce boasts his own power potential himself, having hit 26 home runs in just 98 games in 2019.
“He’s a big part of this team, and my goal is not to come here and replace Luke Voit,” Bruce said. “It’s to be Jay Bruce and help the team just like I planned on helping the team when I signed here. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity I look forward to continuing towards our goal of winning a World Series.”
With Voit out, Bruce will be called upon for heavy reps at first base, which he likely will receive more of as early as Sunday, when Aaron Boone said he would be back in the lineup. Bruce played 16 games at first base in 2019, and two games at the position last season with the Philies. He is primarily an outfielder, but has had scattered experience at first, and is about to have much more consistent reps there in the coming weeks, with Voit being held off from baseball activities for the next three weeks.
“I feel like it’s been good,” Bruce said of his comfort level at first base. “I feel like there’s a lot of things I need to work on and want to continue to work on, but I’m confident I can play a lot of first place and with practice I think I can be good. Sounds like I’ll have an opportunity to be there pretty exclusively for the foreseeable future…there’s a lot of work to do but I’m looking forward to it.”
It has been an eventful 48 hours for Bruce, opting out of his contract on Thursday and not knowing if the Yankees would invite him to join the big-league club until late Friday night, shortly after the team learned of Voit’s injury. But regardless of the circumstances, he will be in pinstripes on Thursday, and quickly went from a fringe roster player to a key piece for the team in the opening month of the season.
“Clearly this is where I wanted to be and why I signed here, so I was very hopeful the whole time…and it worked out,” Bruce said. “I look forward to everything that comes with it. To be able to experience playing for the Yankees with fans in the stands, on the right side of it this time, is something I’ll be really looking forward to.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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