NEW YORK — As Neil Walker languished, as he struggled to learn his new role as the Yankees’ human Swiss army knife, as he watched his playing time dwindle, his batting average plummet, and his confidence wane, he sought guidance from someone that he figured could help. He turned to family.
By the time Don Kelly made his last big-league appearance in 2016, he had played in 584 games over nine seasons. Though he was a lifetime .230 hitter with the Tigers, Pirates and Marlins, he’d stuck around by doing a little of everything. Counting one pitching appearance, and one game of emergency catching duty, he had played every position on the diamond. So when Walker, his brother-in-law, came calling for advice, Kelly shared every tactic he’d developed to deal with the role’s inherent uncertainty.
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“I could have lost my mind there a couple of times,” Walker said Tuesday night, when his walk-off homer lifted the Yankees to a 5-4 triumph over the White Sox. “You look up and you’re hitting .180, I was in a bad place. I really leaned on Don.”
Those tough times early in the season were hard to remember in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday night, as Walker came off the bench and ambushed the first pitch he saw from reliever Dylan Covey. It was a 94-mph fastball on the inner third of the plate, and it was gone to right field the moment Walker made contact. The Yankees dugout emptied and waited for Walker, who flung his helmet high in the air and extended his arms just as he arrived at the plate for a celebration.
As injuries have strained the roster, Walker has emerged as a key presence. His versatility has grown in importance with every new malady to befall the Yankees. Walker entered play on Tuesday hitting .267/.357/.443 since July 1, around the time that regular at-bats came following an injury to Gleyber Torres. Tuesday night’s walk-off was his seventh homer in that stretch, capping the Yankees’ comeback from a four-run deficit.
“Obviously, he’s shown a little more defensive versatility than we expected, and we needed it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And we’ve seen the professional hitter that he is really reveal itself here — especially in the second half of the season.”
That second-half surge wouldn’t have happened if Walker had been overcome during his tumultuous first half, when he’d been one of the least-productive players in the major leagues. An everyday second baseman for most of his decade in the majors, the 32-year-old veteran found himself scrounging for chances to play. Walker begun July hitting .185 after starting in only half of the Yankees’ games.
He initially saw time as a first baseman though Greg Bird eventually returned from injury. The rookie Torres emerged as a force at second base while Miguel Andújar’s ascent made him a fixture at third. That further diminished Walker’s chances of playing time. It hadn’t helped that his timing at the plate was still off. He had been among the free agents left in the cold. But signing in the middle of spring training meant waiting for his swing to click into place. The season’s first month ended with Walker hitting .165. His grip on a roster spot appeared increasingly tenuous.
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That’s when Kelly emerged as a stabilizing force. Since retiring as a player, Kelly became a full-time scout. He soon added another title: part-time adviser to Walker. It was Kelly who encouraged Walker to keep his mind open to anything — even the unfamiliar. It was Kelly who shared the various pregame routines he employed to mentally deal with the uncertainty of playing time. It was Kelly who reminded Walker during the toughest moments that the grind of a baseball season always presents opportunities.
There would be injuries. There would be slumps. There would be chances. “Just stay ready” became a constant refrain. From the time Walker signed a $4 million deal with the Yankees, he anticipated bouncing around the infield. He’d accepted the role as a concession to this stage of his career.
That versatility has been taken to the extreme. The switch-hitting Walker has started games at first, second, third and right field. Until this season, he had never played the outfield in the big leagues. But Aaron Judge broke his wrist, Giancarlo Stanton tweaked his hamstring enough to relegate him to DH, and Shane Robinson provided nothing offensively in his chances to fill the void.
So, that responsibility has fallen to Walker, who for a decent stretch had also been designated as the Yankees’ emergency third catcher in the absence of fellow utilityman Ronald Torreyes. Walker began professional baseball as a catcher. He re-ordered the same model mitt, got fitted for gear, and added more work to a pregame routine that might have him chasing down fly balls in the outfield on one day, and fielding hot shots at third base on the next.
Kelly had encouraged Walker to anticipate chances. Just in case, he even began taking fly balls in right on his own. The Yankees were still talking through the possibility of trying Walker in the outfield. They hadn’t yet to approached him about it. But Walker wanted to be ready.
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That’s how Walker went from not playing enough to perhaps playing too much. It’s why Walker pinch hit on Tuesday, when Boone decided to give the veteran a needed day off. The night before, Walker started his 11th game in right field. At one point during that game, he looked around the field and realized that the only other player on the field for Opening Day was center fielder Aaron Hicks.
The Yankees’ situation should improve soon. Catcher Gary Sánchez has homered in two minor-league rehab games and could be back by the weekend. Shortstop Didi Gregorius has improved rapidly from his heel injury. And though Judge has yet to swing a bat because of pain in his fractured wrist, he’s expected back before season’s end. But until then, it appears Walker figures to keep filling the void.
On Tuesday, he needed just one pitch to make his presence felt.
After thrashing the Orioles during a four-game sweep last weekend, the Yankees began this homestand on Monday trailing the Red Sox by just five games in the loss column. It created a sense that perhaps a race for the AL East might actually develop. But on Monday, the Yankees fell 6-2 to the White Sox, a loss punctuated by three late-game errors. Boone’s description: “crappy.” He wondered if his team had been been sluggish, and it seemed that fatigue had spilled over into Tuesday.
The slumping Bird blamed a new mitt for failing to catch a routine throw from second base, which led to an error. Andújar was soon charged with another, this time for letting a bouncer glance off his glove before booting it with his foot. In the sixth, the White Sox strung together four two-out hits to take a 4-0 lead. Boos rained down like Double-A batteries.
Brett Gardner knew the crowd was “a little fed up,” and soon he gave them a reason to breathe, tripling to start the sixth. He later scored on Andújar’s 22nd homer of the season, which leads all rookies. In the eighth, Stanton snapped an 0-for-14 with a single to right. Aaron Hicks followed with a game-tying two-run shot, three pitches after fuming about a called strike that he assumed to be ball four. The stage was set for Walker to end it.
With one out in the ninth, with Torreyes’ spot in the order due up, and with a righty on the mound, Boone asked Walker to wear yet another different hat. Walker had anticipated it. Leading up to the ninth, he loosened up in the batting cage and reviewed video of the pitcher Covey, who revealed himself to be aggressive with his fastball.
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“As a pinch-hitter coming off the bench, you try to step in the box and try to assume that the first pitch you see is the best pitch you see,” Walker said. “You try to be aggressive and more than that, you try to be on time”
Walker was indeed aggressive and on time. The result was his second walk-off hit of the season and the second walk-off homer of his career. He was mobbed at the plate and later doused. He was chased down for hugs, reached first by reliever Dellin Betances, who earned the win with a scoreless ninth. The rookies Torres and Andújar followed ahead of the veteran Gardner.
“When we’ve had the injuries that we’ve had to deal with this year, a guy like that is really, really valuable,” Gardner said. “He’s just a true pro, the way he goes about his business. He comes ready to play every day and gets his work in. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him and not just playing with him, but learning from him.”
(Top photo by Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports)
