MLB

Mike Ford’s incredible run begs inevitable Yankees question

SEATTLE — Where Mike Ford fits into the Yankees’ future is a question that doesn’t have a definitive answer.

Presently, he has turned into a productive bat that is helping to drive the Yankees to their first AL East title since 2012.

On Sunday in Los Angeles, the left-handed-hitting first baseman homered off Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw in the sixth inning and doubled in a run in the eighth to help the Yankees to a 5-1 victory.

On Monday night at T-Mobile Park, the hefty Princeton University product lifted the Yankees to a 5-4 win with two home runs against a Mariners team that gave up on him last year.

“If opportunity knocked for him I was confident he would go in there and give us these kind of at-bats. The bat is real,’’ Aaron Boone said of the 27-year-old Ford, who has ridden the shuttle between Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and The Bronx this season, and as a former pitcher at Princeton, hurled the final two innings in a 19-5 loss to the Indians this month. “He has been having a good year down at Triple-A and is really taking advantage of an opportunity now like so many of our guys have throughout the year. It’s really nice to see, especially on this trip.’’

In 79 games for SWB, Ford batted .303 with 23 homers, 60 RBIs and a 1.007 OPS.

Mike Ford
Mike FordAP

Mike Tauchman has said often this year that when players are summoned from Triple-A to the Yankees, they are expected to contribute instead of just be in the big leagues.

Ford has done that in the five games before the Yankees played the Mariners on Tuesday night in the second of a three-game series. During that stretch, Ford was 8-for-15 (.533) with four homers, six RBIs and five runs scored.

A Rule 5 pick by the Mariners out of the Yankees’ organization in 2017, Ford was returned to the Yankees the following spring training.

“I try to keep that out of my mind. There are no hard feelings, but it is definitely nice to stick it to them,’’ Ford said of the Mariners, who are last in the AL West, and the Yankees, who are cruising toward an October he may not be a part of. “It took me a period of time to get over it, but after that it was OK. Now what is the next step.’’

The opportunity Ford has taken advantage of has been injury-driven. Luke Voit (sports hernia) could come off the injured list on Friday and Edwin Encarnacion is expected back from a fractured right wrist next month. When they were healthy, Voit and Encarnacion shared time at first base and DH.

With rosters expanding Sunday, Ford will likely spend the final month of the season in the big leagues and give the Yankees and other teams a look at what he could offer next year, when the Bombers might need room on the 40-man roster. His having hit six of his eight homers off lefties has to be interesting to teams looking for left-handed power.

With DJ LeMahieu and Voit, the Yankees should be covered at first base. Encarnacion will be a free agent, and what happens to the injury-prone Greg Bird after missing the entire season remains a question.

That is all for down the road. In the present, the 2013 Ivy League pitcher and player of the year is enjoying helping the Yankees close out the AL East.

“I feel great in there, confident and really relaxed,’’ said Ford, who was hitting .227 with eight homers, 14 RBIs and an .829 OPS in 32 big-league games entering Tuesday night’s action.