Over the next couple of weeks, the Bronx Pinstripes team is going to review every player’s season on the 2015 Yankees… the good, the bad, and the ugly. Replacing a legend is no small task, so it took a Sir to walk in the shadows of a Jet(er).
In the 2014 offseason, Mariekson Julius Gregorius was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-team trade that included the Detroit Tigers. And thus, the heir to The Captain was named. The 25-year-old Didi Gregorius took on the tall task.
Opening Day against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees are already trailing by five and the Yankees new shortstop got on base the hard way, getting hit by a pitch to start the inning. Two outs later, Carlos Beltran walked. With a brief rally brewing, the Blue Jays made a pitching change that ultimately meant nothing. On the first pitch to power-hitting Mark Teixeira…Gregorius was caught stealing third to end the inning. Not a great last first impression to make on your debut in pinstripes…
So, we traded Shane Greene for…this? Well, Greene did have a 3.86 ERA this year…IN AAA Toledo!
After a rough first month in pinstripes, featuring baserunning mistakes and poor instincts in the field, Gregorius settled in and everything looked better. His glove started living up to the reputation that followed him.
Six of his nine home runs came at home, where he clearly took advantage of the short porch in the Bronx.
Not only did Didi put together his career-best year on the field, his Twitter game was on point.
#spreadthenews yankees win great start by Severino and homer by Ack Attack…. Great game overall
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) September 27, 2015
#spreadthenews yankees great game started by Severino and clutch 3run by #birdmachine ….. The Bird is the word over and out
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) September 23, 2015
#spreadthenews Yankees W clutch grand slam by Arod… statue of liberty pose ? …
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) August 19, 2015
Spread the news Yankees win solid all the way around… Tex send a text out “Power of the stache”….
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) May 6, 2015
He started the year with a lynch mob demanding his exit and finished as one of the must-see players in pinstripes, whether he was slapping hits into left center or snagging ground balls and unleashing his cannon of an arm. The 2015 Didi Gregorius started a little ugly, quite a number of bad but finished off good with more to look forward to.
