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5 days ago
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Former Yankees Slugger Turns Heads With Mammoth Homer in Japan
Former Yankees Slugger Turns Heads With Mammoth Homer in Japan originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Unlike several of his slumping former teammates, ex-New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit is spending his summer mashing home runs. Advertisement You'll be forgiven if you haven't seen much of Voit on your social media timelines lately, given that he's now playing for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan. However, as the Talkin' Baseball X/Twitter account shared on Tuesday, the move overseas hasn't diminished Voit's power stroke in the slightest. 'A perfect blast,' the @Rakuten_Pacific X/Twitter account wrote in the original post. Voit opened the season in Mexico, hitting .314 with 12 homers, 26 RBIs, and a 1.015 OPS for Tigres de Quintana Roo. He joined the Eagles (yes, they go by Eagles rather than Golden Eagles) last month and went 4-for-11 with a homer over his first four games. Advertisement 'Get him back in the majors!' one X user commented. Added another: '[Missed] that swing🙂↕️' New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit in 2021Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images Although Voit played for five teams across seven seasons, his most successful years came following his 2018 arrival in the Bronx. The 6-foot-2, 258-pound slugger hit .271 with 68 homers and a .883 OPS over 281 games in pinstripes, helping the Yankees to four consecutive playoff berths. Voit is the last Yankees player not named Aaron Judge to lead the team in homers, posting a league-high 22 bombs during the shortened 2020 campaign. However, various injuries limited Voit's availability in 2021, and the Yankees acquired Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo at that year's trade deadline. Advertisement Voit left the majors with a .253 average, 95 homers, and a 5.5 bWAR from 2017-23. We'll see if he eventually returns, and if pitchers will again fear his power. Related: Yankees Must Pursue Reunion With $7.4 Million Reliever Ahead of Trade Deadline This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Yankees home run king heads to Japan
Former Yankees home run king heads to Japan originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Luke Voit is headed overseas. The former Yankees first baseman has signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball for the remainder of the 2025 season, finalizing a deal that was rumored for weeks. Advertisement For Yankees fans, Voit is more than just a name in a transaction. He was almost a mascot. He looked and talked like Bronx Bomber. He was a slugger who showed up with little fanfare and started mashing like he'd always belonged in the Bronx. Acquired at the 2018 trade deadline in a low-key deal with the Cardinals, Voit immediately became a fan favorite with his bulldog energy and his ability to hit the ball into orbit. New York Yankees first baseman Luke VoitDale Zanine-Imagn Images His peak came in 2020, when he led the majors with 22 home runs in the pandemic-shortened season. He finished ninth in AL MVP voting and seemed poised to anchor the Yankees' lineup for years. Advertisement But the injuries hit hard and fast. Injuries cut his 2021 season short, and with the Yankees shifting direction, Voit was dealt to the Padres in spring 2022 after the Yankees re-signed Anthony Rizzo. He never quite recaptured his Bronx magic. After short stints with the Nationals and Brewers, Voit hadn't appeared in a big-league game since mid-2023. Still just 34, Voit heads to Japan with something left to prove—and maybe something to rediscover. His swing, at its best, was a force. In New York, he delivered loud homers, fun postgame interviews, and one of the few bright spots in a strange 2020 season. Yankees fans will remember the jersey opened one button extra and the 'guns out when the sun's out' mentality. And now they'll be watching from afar, hoping the next chapter brings Voit the same spark he brought to the Stadium. Advertisement Related: Jazz Chisholm Jr. Scores Shoeless Then Shares Jasson Dominguez's Secret Superpower Related: Latest Injuries to Yankees' Pitching Staff Could Force Action Before Deadline This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
