thelesterlee
Tyler Wade entered this season slashing .190/.274/.301. A speedster who can play every position was never expected to hit for power but after 4 years of facing Major League pitching, you’d think he’d be able to slap a ball into the outfield or run out an infield single but nope. Wade was pretty much an automatic out when he stepped into the batter’s box.
But something happened around August 3rd when Gio Urshela went on the injured list and Tyler Wade began to get consistent at-bats.
Tyler Wade just hits pic.twitter.com/67AQpmurmm
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 21, 2021
Since August 3rd, Wade is slashing .455/.526/.576 with 9 runs, 4 doubles and 3 RBIs. He’s driving in runs and getting extra-base hits often from the 9 hole in the batting order which just enhances his value exponentially.
Here’s what Wade said about his recent MVP-caliber play:
“I just think more opportunity. Obviously seeing stuff fall, confidence. But yeah, I would just say being in the lineup more often and being in the flow of the game.”
The Yankees are on a 9 game winning streak and Tyler Wade is a massive part of this recent run.
But is Tyler Wade….good?
I think it helps that he’s entering the bottom of a lineup that just acquired Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo. Luke Voit is also back from injury. The lineup is unbelievably stacked and then suddenly Wade pops up at the bottom after a pitcher spent all of their energy trying to get out the previous 8 monsters.
He’s a fine defender. Yes, he can technically play every position but he doesn’t play every position very well. Still hilarious guys like him or Clint Frazier easily catch a fly ball in the outfield but dive at the end for no reason other than to look cool or to make the catch look harder than it actually was.
New rookie, Andrew Velazquez, steals bases more frequently and more successfully than Tyler Wade so it’s not like Wade is the best base runner on the team anymore.
He’s fine. He’s never going to come close to the minor scouting report that compared him to Jacoby Ellsbury. That bum’s career may not have ended pleasantly but Ellsbury still finished 2nd place in MVP voting in 2011. Wade is just now learning that he can hit doubles.
Let’s just enjoy what he’s doing now while Gio Urshela mends his injuries.
