The New York Yankees bounced back on Sunday with a blowout home win over the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6-1, ending their shortened series with a 1-1 tie. The Yankees are hoping to weather the storm in the absence of Aaron Judge, who will be out of the lineup for at least the next month as he deals with an injury to his ribcage.
Helping to pick up the slack has been Cody Bellinger, who is in his second season with New York after re-signing with the Yankees in free agency. This past offseason, there was plenty of debate as to whether the Yankees should go after Bellinger or instead pursue free agent Kyle Tucker, who ended up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Among those who fell into the Tucker camp was Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, who recently admitted his mistake on that front.
“The main thing I did not see coming with Bellinger this season is how dramatically he would improve his on-base skills. Bellinger’s .373 on-base percentage is by far his best mark since his 2019 MVP season… His defense has also improved to a degree that I did not foresee. Bellinger finished with 7 DRS in left field last season. He’s already more than doubled that total this year,” noted Kirschner.
The same cannot be said for Tucker, whose “…contact quality metrics have decreased, and his defense has continued to decline,” per Kirschner.
Overall, it takes some guts for Kirschner to admit he was wrong on this one, particularly when he has drawn criticism for his back and forths with fans in the past, even going so far as to call one social media user who disagreed with his opinion “broke” back in 2021.
The Yankees will hope Bellinger continues his hot play amid Judge’s absence.
The post Yankees insider confesses mea culpa in Kyle Tucker vs. Cody Bellinger debate appeared first on ClutchPoints.
