When the New York Yankees acquired Dustin Ackley they were getting a player who could play several positions and was still young enough to recapture some of the promise he showed that made him one of the best prospects in baseball. He was the prototypical change of scenery player, and GM Brian Cashman looked smart in Ackley’s brief time last season.
Coming into 2016, Ackley was going to be counted on to be an extra corner outfielder and backup second baseman. He figured heavily into the Yankees’ plans. Now, after the torn labrum that Greg Bird suffered which will cost him the 2016 season, Ackley will figure even more into the Yankees’ plans.
With Mark Teixeira not appearing in 150 or more games in a season since 2011, Ackley will almost assuredly be called upon for significant playing time. In fact, Teixeira has not appeared in more than 125 games in a season since 2011. Bird would have been waiting at Triple-A until he was needed but now Ackley will get that playing time.
In his 23-game sample with the Yankees last year, Ackley hit .288/.333/.654 with four home runs, 11 RBIs, three doubles, two triples and six runs scored. It is not nearly enough games to say that Ackley finally put it all together, but it’s enough to offer some hope.
Ackley does have 22 games of experience at first base, so it shouldn’t be new to him at all, even if he doesn’t have the kind of metrics that will make people forget about Teixeira. Now that Bird is done for the year, you can guarantee that Ackley will get plenty of playing time at first base. But if Teixeira does get hurt, it could leave the Yankees thin elsewhere since they were counting on Ackley to be a fill-in at second base and the outfield as well.
Then again, they could plug in Brian McCann at first base if they need to play Ackley at second or in the outfield for some reason. McCann has appeared in 26 games at first for the Yankees over the last two seasons and his metrics actually are similar though Ackley does have the greater range. If McCann has to see time at first base for any reason the Yankees could call upon top prospect Gary Sanchez, who enjoyed a rebound season last year and reentered the conversation for Yankees’ top prospect.
In the likely chance that Ackley is called upon for major playing time, he won’t disappoint. The talent has always been there, and after a very subtle change in his swing last season, he began to finally live up to that potential. While losing Bird hurts, the Yankees are, thanks to Cashman, in better position to deal with injury moving forward.
