Before the Yankees’ Sunday game against the Tampa Bay Rays, veteran first baseman Jay Bruce announced his retirement following the game. Bruce was not in the starting lineup, but is available off the bench, per manager Aaron Boone. However, there is no set plan to play him today. Said Bruce to reporters after the announcement, “Ultimately, I felt like I couldn’t perform at the level I expected out of myself.” Bruce also released a statement detailing his thanks to baseball.
Jay Bruce announces his retirement. pic.twitter.com/bJNmt0ASpO
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 18, 2021
After Luke Voit went down with a torn meniscus in Spring Training, Bruce was named New York’s starting first baseman. Bruce played corner outfield for most of his 14 career seasons but had racked up experience at first base. But Bruce could not hit out of the gate, going 4-for-34 (.118 average) with a .466 OPS, hitting one home run in 10 games. He also struggled defensively. When the Yankees acquired Rougned Odor from Texas, they decided it would be a better fit offensively and defensively if Odor played second base, while DJ LeMahieu was moved to first.
While he was by no means a Hall of Fame-caliber player, Bruce had a nice career. After being drafted by Cincinnati 12th overall in 2015, Bruce debuted at age 21 in 2008 and is just 34 now. He hit 319 home runs with a .781 OPS in his career, while passing the 30 home run mark in a single season five times. Not only did Bruce play for the Reds and Yankees, but he also made stops for the Mets, Phillies, Mariners, and Indians before signing a minor league deal with the Yankees before Spring Training.
What’s Next for the Yankees?
This news means that Bruce goes out on his own terms. It became seemingly more likely by the day that Bruce would be designated for assignment anyways. Boone seemed to signal that the Bruce experience was over before New York’s loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Boone said that you can expect a lot of DJ LeMahieu at 1B and Rougned Odor at 2B for the foreseeable future. Seems the Jay Bruce experiment is over.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 17, 2021
The obvious answer to replace Bruce on the active roster before Voit returns is Mike Ford, a 28-year-old who hit 12 home runs with a .909 OPS in 50 games in 2019. However, Ford hit .135 with a .496 OPS last year. Ford has spent one day on the active roster this year, as an extra bench option when Gio Urshela was feeling side effects from the vaccine. He did not get into a game. The 10-day period that is required after being sent to the minors (barring injury) is over for Ford on Tuesday, New York’s next game after today. The expectation is that Ford will be recalled.
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