Jay Bruce will be a member of the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, manager Aaron Boone announced on Saturday.
Bruce exercised his opt-out clause on Thursday, giving the Yankees 48 hours to decide whether or not they wanted to break camp with the left-handed slugger. It was a tricky decision, but one that was made easier given the other news Boone broke on Saturday, that Luke Voit has a partial meniscus tear in his left knee.
“I’m extremely excited to make the team,” Bruce said. “Obviously, Luke’s injury is disheartening to everyone. I wish him a speedy and full recovery. He’s obviously a big part of this team and my goal is not to replace Luke Voit, it’s to be Jay Bruce. I just want to help the team, just like I did when I signed the contract to come here.”
Boone said Voit will have surgery to “clean things up” next week, and will be shut down from baseball activities for at least the next three weeks.
Meanwhile Bruce, who turns 34 on April 4, is slashing .194/.242/.419 with two homers and three RBI this spring, looks like he’ll be headed north in pinstripes.
“I expect him to play a lot of first base for us,” Boone said of Bruce. “I think you’ll see a lot of Jay and I’m excited to see what he can do for us.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the line for Mike Tauchman, however. SNY’s Andy Martino has reported that there is a scenario in which both Bruce and Tauchman could make the team, one which would include Tyler Wade being optioned. Now given the injury to Voit, it should be even easier to shuffle things around to make room for both.