Luke Voit acknowledged he's hit into some bad luck at times but didn't use that as an alibi and didn't sugar-coat what's been apparent for weeks.
He's been in a deep slump and it's not impossible to conceive the season-ending skid costing him a spot on the 25-man ALDS roster.
"It stinks because you go through it right before the postseason," Voit said over the weekend as the Yankees finished the regular season against the Rangers.
Voit finished the year with respectable numbers overall � hitting .263 with 21 homers, 62 RBIs and an .842 OPS in 118 games. But that included a 1-for-33 slide to end the season, part of a second half in which the 28-year-old first baseman experienced prolonged difficulty.
"It's been kind of a struggle the last couple of weeks. I feel like I'm having good at-bats," Voit said. "Sometimes the baseball gods don't work in your favor too much. I'm trying everything I can do to get back to where I was. I was feeling good after that last road trip and I kind of ran into some bad luck. I'm not trying to make excuses about that. Obviously, the results haven't been there."
They haven't been for the most part since Voit spent time on the injured list with a sports hernia that cost him 28 games. After returning, Voit hit .228 with a .715 OPS � with four homers and 12 RBIs � in 40 games. Before the injury Voit was hitting .280 with a .901 OPS.
So have there been any lingering effects from the hernia that have contributed to the slide?
"No," the always amiable Voit said.
With Mike Ford's emergence � 11 of his 12 homers and a .953 OPS in 39 games since Aug. 4 � as well as the strong possibility the Yankees take 13 pitchers instead of 12, limiting the number of position players on the ALDS roster � Voit's playoff status has been a topic for several weeks, though he said he hasn't felt pressure from that.
"I don't think I'm putting too much stress on me," he said. "Obviously, I hope I make the roster but I have no idea. There's a lot of good players in this locker room. I'm just trying to do what I can to help this team win."
Voit did that to the surprise of just about everyone last year after he arrived from the Cardinals in a little-publicized deal at the time. But he wrested the starting job from Greg Bird with his power and consistency at the plate, finishing 2018 hitting 14 homers and producing 1.095 OPS in 39 games. He had a two-run triple in the Yankees' wild-card victory over the A's and and went 3-for-13 with two RBIs and four walks in the four-game ALDS loss to the Red Sox.
Declaring from the start of the spring he was out to prove 2018 was "no fluke," Voit did just that, performing well against Bird in the exhibition season competition for the starting job at first, and then extending that performance into the regular season.
Aaron Boone, speaking of Voit before the start of the Rangers' series, said the first baseman had run into "some tough luck" that might be impacting him.
"He hit a number of balls on the screws for outs...and then all of a sudden you can press a little bit," said Boone, who declined to speculate on Voit's prognosis for the playoff roster � and the roster overall � but did say Ford is "certainly in the conversation" for a spot. "I think he's probably been pressing a little bit. I feel like sometimes as a hitter you can want it a little too bad instead of just trusting your work, trusting the game plan you have going into that game and understanding that he's a really good hitter. So hopefully he'll get some results here these last couple of days and get a little momentum going for himself."
