Didi Gregorius: The Power Shortstop You Need to Add
By Bill Pivetz
After the Derek Jeter retired, the New York Yankees had a glaring need at shortstop. While Jeter was never a great fielder, he was a very good hitter throughout his career. Trying to replace a career .310 hitter in a shallow shortstop market is a hard feat. The Yankees thought they found one in Didi Gregorius and traded for him last December. After struggling both on the field and at the plate, he has been on fire with the bat. If you are looking for power/contact in the last couple of weeks, Gregorius is your guy.
In his two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks (183 games), Didi Gregorius hit a collective 13 home runs, 55 RBI and a .241 batting average. If you were to draft a shortstop during this time, Gregorius would rank in the bottom half of the top 20 among shortstops. He showed little signs of consistent power and didn’t get on base enough (90 hits in 2013).
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As a left-handed hitter moving to lefty-friendly Yankee Stadium, many thought he would hit double-digit home runs. He’s close, but a poor first four months hurt his chances. From April 6 to July 31, Didi Gregorius hit 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 29 RBI and a .256 batting average. Those could easily have been his final stats at the end of the year.
However, as the calendar grew closer to September, Gregorius’ bat started to heat up. Since August 26, he has three home runs, 12 RBI and a .516 batting average. He has multi-hit games in five of his last eight games.
Didi Gregorius has been one of the catalysts in the recent Yankees’ power surge, despite hitting in the bottom-third of the Yankees’ lineup. He is ranked No. 25 among shortstops on the ESPN Player Rater this season. He is No. 19 in the last 30 days and No. 3 over the last 15 days.
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While this kind of production may not last throughout the rest of the season, he has the hitters in front of him to continue driving in runs.Greg Bird and Brian McCann have been heating up as well in recent games, so Gregorius will see good pitches and rack up his RBI.
ESPN fantasy owners have noticed his recent production. Gregorius has been added in 17.2 percent of leagues, currently at 21.7 percent. Other big-name shortstops have struggled over the last 15 days. So, if you need a shortstop with power potential and can get on base, you need to at least look at Didi Gregorius.