The Yankees keep giving Tyler Wade a countless number of opportunities, but it may finally be time to give up on the utility man.
Tyler Wade was once one of the Yankees top prospects, a versatile, lefty with amazing speed. His speed reminded most Yankee fans of a young Brett Gardner. Wade could play pretty much every position, the future was bright for him. But then it all came to reality when he came up to the majors as he has done nothing to show he deserves a spot on this team. Here are two reasons why it is time to give up on Tyler Wade.
1. He Just Can’t Hit
Tyler wade has been up on the Major league team multiple times since 2017. Each time he gets some playing time and sometimes he will get consistent playing time. Most of the time a player will capitalize on that opportunity and force the club to keep playing them. This is not the case for Wade. He has played in at least 30 games in 2017 and 2018.
In 2017, he slashed .155/.222/.224 with zero homers and two runs batted in. In 2018, he slashed .167/.214/.273 with one homer and five RBIs. This year he has been given the most playing time in his career and hasn’t shown anything. So far this year, in 20 games, he is slashing .204/.316/.204 with zero homers and five RBIs.
This year, Tyler Wade’s groundball rate is 72.2% and according to Baseball Savant, The MLB average is 45.7. With Wade’s speed, this should be a good thing, but it isn’t and he is always hitting it right at someone. He has shown absolutely nothing and has not even once shown the fans a sign of what he can do. With all the injuries other players have been called up and have outperformed Wade in many ways.
2. Other Call-ups Are Outplaying Him
One of the sad parts of the season so far is that almost everyone is hurt. But this has opened up the door for us fans to see what our young players can truly do. Players like Gio Urshela (.338/.405/.492) and Thairo Estrada (6-for-18) have shown that they can play in the big leagues and were the ones that Wade needed to outplay to keep a spot.
With the team slowly getting healthy, the “fill-in’s” will have to be sent down and Wade by far has had the worst season out of all of them. I would not be surprised to see Wade sent down as he has done absolutely nothing this season or pretty much his whole career. Some prospects just don’t pan out and I think it’s safe to say that Tyler Wade might be one of them.
To rub some salt into the wound here is Wade’s career hitting stats compared to CC Sabathia’s
Career totals
CC Wade
Plate app. 124 182
Hits 25 30
HR/RBI 3/15 1/12
Batting avg .212 .182
On base/SLG .225/.314 .254/248
OPS/OPS+ .539/42 .503/36— Bo Shek (@ShekBo) May 1, 2019