GIO IS THE GUY THE YANKEES WANT UP IN THOSE BIG MOMENTS

Source: Newsday

Imagine you are Gio Urshela. Almost three years ago, you were a Toronto Blue Jay after bouncing around Cleveland and their minor league team. On August 4, 2018, the Blue Jays traded you to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations. The Yankees assigned you to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. where you worked closely with Phil Plantier, the RailRiders' hitting coach, to make changes to your batting stance. Things seem to click for you and fast forward to 2021, you are making things happen for the Yankees despite the big time superstars that surround you. Now, you are the guy the Yankees want up in big situations and you know what, you don't disappoint.

Source: CBS Sports

Gio Urshela is clearly the Yankees most important asset as they look to ascend from the back of the AL East to put themselves back in contention for the pennant. In Saturday's game against the Oakland Athletics, Urshela, despite getting a splinter in his eye after his bat shattered, hit the game winning home run putting the Yankees up 7-5 against the As. In a terrific comeback, Urshela plays hero again and this performance is something the Yankees are starting to get used to.

"Gio's always been a guy -- since we've had him -- in the biggest spots you love him up there," Boone said "... He kinda seems to go along and he surprises you with how good his power is, to straight away center field especially. Really good player who likes being in the moment when the game is on the line," reported CBS Sports. 

Gio's go ahead run not only gave the Yankees the lead they needed to close this one out against Oakland, but it gave the Yankees confidence and positivity that they need to know that they have what it takes to take advantage of every moment, every inning to turn any game around with good smart baseball.

Besides Gio's offensive advantage, he saves games any time he is on the field. The Yankees have two triple plays this season which Urshela has either ignited or been in the middle of. He plays with such passion and drive, which is extremely fun to watch and appreciated by fans like me who love to see a guy embrace the opportunity he has to make an impact on this team and this sport.

“That was a really exciting game,” Urshela said. “We were fighting all day long. We were losing and then we came back. It doesn’t matter if we’re winning or losing; we always stay positive, doing the right things. It’s going to help us a lot, and today we showed that,” reported MLB.com.

To say that Urshela has been the most valuable player for the Yankees is understatement. And his contributions are not going unnoticed. He is a hot commodity on the All Star ballot and will likely play in the 2021 game this July. But all these things don't faze the 29-year-old third baseman. He is humble and just wants to give his team any chance to win. 

The Yankees try to win this series against Oakland in the rubber game later this afternoon at the Stadium. Seeing Urshela be so successful makes me forget a bit about this team's difficulties. But he can't carry this team nor do it alone. Hopefully his consistency and passion will infect the rest of the team to step up and be just as valuable as he has been for this Yankee team. 

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof