The Yankees need Josh Donaldson to get going and present another prolific bat to flex in their lineup come playoff time when pitching staffs get tougher to solve, and certainly need more from him than the lowly June he had at the plate.
But since the calendar turned to July, Donaldson has an OPS near .900, has had back-to-back multi-hit games, and has gone deep in both of them, most recently a grand slam to lead the Yanks to victory over the Red Sox in Boston on Thursday night.
“I just felt like I had a good pitch to hit right there,” Donaldson said. “He made a mistake with another fastball and I was able to put a good swing on it.”
Donaldson had been struggling to produce much of anything in the power department for much of the season, despite coming to New York with some still-impressive hard-hit numbers in his age 36 season, but he seems to be finding his power stroke again, as three of his last six hits have come for extra bases.
“Just been working, trying to make some adjustments in my setup of the swing and get into my legs a little more pre-pitch and stay in my legs throughout the swing,” Donaldson said. “I’ve been able to do that.”
He was certainly able to do it on Thursday night, providing the crucial blast on a night where the Yankees’ top two power hitters in Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo were nursing tightness in their lower half and lower back, respectively.
“We got a lot of depth,” Donaldson said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have been here before and have had success. We don’t want to do it without those guys for too long, but we were able to get it done.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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