Yankees first baseman Luke Voit expected to return next week

The Yankees hope to finally have the 2020 AL home run king in their lineup by early next week, per Lindsey Adler of the Athletic. 

Luke Voit has yet to play this season, and the Yankees are struggling to find production at first base. Jay Bruce logged -0.3 fWAR before retiring, and Mike Ford has a 42 wRC+ in 38 plate appearances. DJ LeMahieu has started the most games at first this year, but that means pulling him from the keystone where neither Tyler Wade (76 wRC+) nor Rougned Odor (83 WRC+) have made much of an argument for keeping the position. Besides, even if Wade has enough glove to allow his subpar bat at second, the Yankees might need LeMahieu elsewhere.

• Gio Urshela’s knee is healing nicely, but he’ll probably have at least another day and maybe two before returning to the lineup, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. The Yankees brought up Miguel Andujar to help cover in the meantime, though it was interesting that manager Aaron Boone deployed LeMahieu at third while starting Andujar at first. LeMahieu made an error that helped open the floodgates for the Nationals in the Yankees’ 11-4 loss on Friday. Regardless, LeMahieu is back at the hot corner again today with Ford at first.
• Zack Britton, meanwhile, will throw a simulated game next week, but he can’t be activated from the injured list until the end of May at the earliest, per Adler. The Yankee pen has been one of their high points so far this season, leading the majors by a mark of 2.1 fWAR. They’re also tied for ninth in usage with 121 bullpen innings. Regardless, everyone needs more bullpen help, and Britton’s long been one of the best.