Chase Headley was supposed to be on the bench by now. First, hot-shot prospect Gleyber Torres was going to take his spot. Then it was Todd Frazier. When Greg Bird and Matt Holliday finally ret🍸urned from lengthy disabled list stints, there wasn’t going to be room for him anymore.
And yet, Headley has remained a key🌞 cog in the lineup, one of the more consistent Yankees on a team full of streaky hitters.
“‘Hed’ has been a big part of this,” manager Joe Girardi said Saturday after the Yankees knocked off the Red Sox, 5-1, to inch to within 4 ¹/₂ games of their AL East rivals atop the division. “It goes back to his unselfishness, willing to do anything 🐼we’ve asked him to do, and bꦫeing a real team player.”
Asked about the logjꦑam in the infield, fitting Headley, Frazier, Holliday and Bird into three spots, between third base, first base꧋ and DH, Girardi made it clear Headley won’t be the odd man out.
“I’m going to have to find a way to keep him in the lineup,” Girardi🥂 said. “I’ll be able to do that. I’m not worried about that.”
Headley’s average is up to .278, the highest it has been since May 7, and his OPS is at .781. Headley had three hits Saturday, including his 10th home run of the season, and scored twice. He singled in the sixth inning ahead of Holliday’s three-run homer, the big blow in the victory♚. After a dreadful May, when he hit .165 and struck out 29 times, Headley put together a solid June, better July and stellar August, one of the most consistent Yankees over that time.
He has spent time at third base, first base upon the Frazier acquisition, and designated hitter. Headley hasn’t complained, but he has produced. In fact, since moving over to first base on July 20, a position he had played just 14 times in his career, he has been red-ꦯhot, producing a .328/.408/.547 slash line with six home runs and 16 RBIs in 40 games. He has held his own defensively there, too, committing only one error in 35 games.
When Frazier came aboard in the blockbuster trade with the White Sox, Headley told Girardi: “I’ll do w♊hatever you need me to do.”
“I think at this point in my career, winning is just the most important thing,” Headley said. “The one thing about this organization is nobody is bigger than the team. If you buy into that, I think you can maybe let the emotional side out of it,ꦅ and that’s what I’ve tried to do.
“I certainly want🏅 to contribute. I definitely want to play every day. But I want to win more than any of that.”