At a time when the Yankees’ offense has fallen off a cliff, Jake Bauers’ steadily above-average bat has entrenched him in the leadoff spot for the time being. When Billy McKinney cooled off, the Aaron Judge-less outfield was inept at the plate along with most everyone else. And while Harrison Bader is a perfectly average bat, he lacks the thump of an authoritative outfield bat.
However, with Judge out, Bauers kept hitting at a solid clip as other outfield options like McKinney and the since-demoted Oswaldo Cabrera struggled. Peripherally, his positive trends are sustainably backed up by his metrics.