One familiar face is tearing the cover off of the ball for the New York Yankees.
The Yankees have been solid to open the 2023 season and sit 6-3 through nine games and one player who has played a surprisingly large role is slugger Franchy Cordero. The former Boston Red Sox utility man signed with the Yankees ahead of the 2023 campaign after failing to make the Baltimore Orioles and has made the most of his opportunity so far.
Cordero impressed in spring training for the Orioles slashing .413/.426/.674 to go along with two home runs and nine RBIs in 18 games played. He fought for a bench role with the Orioles but came up short and signed a major league contract with New York shortly after. Cordero has appeared in four games for the Yankees so far this season and has impressed. The slugger already has two home runs and has an eye-popping .357 batting average to go along with a team-leading seven RBIs.
While it's extremely unlikely that this level of production will continue, Cordero has shown flashes likely this throughout his career. Boston acquired Cordero in the team's deal centered around outfielder Andrew Benintendi and he split time between the big league club and Worcester Red Sox. Cordero was never able to fully catch on with the big league club, but shined at the Triple-A level.
Boston non-tendered Cordero at the end of the 2022 season and he became a free agent. The Red Sox could use a slugging outfielder of their own at the moment as outfielder Adam Duvall may miss time after injuring his wrist in Sunday's win over the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox currently have Raimel Tapia and Rob Refsnyder on the roster ready to fill in if Duvall were to miss time. Cordero has impressed for the Yankees so far this season, and could've been helpful for the Red Sox as well.
Hopefully Cordero is able to keep up his solid level of play, but not against the Red Sox when the two rivals face off this season.
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