Gio did it again ! The stats are beyond belief at this point. The magic carpet ride continues for Gio Urshela !! Last night’s (May 17th) walk off hit vs. the Rays at Yankee Stadium put the Yankees atop their division. He turned around a 99 mph sinker by Jose Alverado to finish off the come-from-behind victory for the Yankees, lifting them into 1st place in the AL East. After a 6-9 start to the season, they have the best record in baseball since then (21-7).
Gio Urshela, without exaggeration has been the MVP of the team so far. He has made the most of an opportunity. and then-some. Miguel Andujar went on the IL back in early April with a labrum tear in his right shoulder. I remember watching Urshela during spring training and thinking I’d love to see his glove at 3B every day. His defense is that special. He is a difference-maker when he plays the field, and a huge upgrade over Andujar at that position. The scouting report on the 27 year old from Colombia was, good glove, not-much offense. His career BA is .246. Gio hit well during spring training, BUT no one expected this kind of offensive performance from him. His slash line is an outstanding .347 BA / .398 OBP / .500 SLG , but that doesn’t nearly tell the whole story. He has been as clutch as any player in the league. How clutch ? He is now hitting 12-28 (.429) , and has 13 RBIs with RISP. And …. he is 6-11 (.545) with RISP and TWO OUT. Now THAT is Clutch !!
Gio has 3 game tying/ go-ahead hits in the 9th inning or later this season. That leads MLB, and is as many as the rest of the Yankees combined.
GI’ WHIZZ !!
