Yankees' Jon Berti gets surprise start at first base for Game 2 of ALDS
Jon Berti of the Yankees defends at first base during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Going into Game 2 of the ALDS, Aaron Boone was 1-for-1 in postseason lineup decisions.
He chose Alex Verdugo over Jasson Dominguez for leftfield in Game 1 against the Royals, and Verdugo delivered the go-ahead hit in the Yankees’ one-run victory.
On Monday night, Boone must have felt like a Vegas high roller who was feeling lucky. He chose Jon Berti to start at first base in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium against Kansas City lefthander Cole Ragans.
Here are the number of games Berti has played at first in his seven-year big-league career:
Zero.
First base, catcher and pitcher are the only positions on the diamond Berti had never played. But with Austin Wells behind the plate and Carlos Rodon on the mound, Boone didn’t need the super-utilityman at either of those positions on Monday.
According to MLB.com, Berti is the first player in baseball history to make his first career start at first base in a postseason game. That’s a lot of firsts.
He handled his initial (different word for “first”) chance without incident. It was a squibber to the line hit by righthanded batter Yuli Gurriel. Berti fielded it and stepped on the bag for the second out of the second inning.
Berti had a chance to make an impact at the plate in the bottom of the second. The No. 9 hitter got the count to 3-and-2 with Anthony Volpe on second in a scoreless game. Alas, Berti struck out on a low changeup.
The first throw to Berti was not routine. It came in the third, when Rodon fired a bounced bullet at Berti on an infield single by Maikel Garcia that had hit off Rodon’s glove. Berti snagged the throw, saving Rodon a possible throwing error.
Berti also was in the right place to cut off a relay throw in the fourth on Garcia’s RBI single to right. Berti started a rundown play that ended with Garcia being tagged out to end the inning. But the Yankees trailed 4-1 as Kansas City knocked out Rodon during a four-run frame.
Berti made a spectacular play in the sixth, diving to his right to snare MJ Melendez's bullet line drive (105.3-mph exit velocity) and doubling Michael Massey off first.
"Felt pretty comfortable," Berti said. "Put in a lot of work with it and trying to be athletic over there."
And in the ninth, after Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a home run to bring the Yankees within 4-2, Berti lined a two-out single to right to bring the tying run to the plate before Gleyber Torres grounded out to end it.
Oswaldo Cabrera started at first against righthander Michael Wacha in Saturday’s 6-5 Yankees victory, went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and played just fine at first. The switch hitter isn’t much from the right side, so Boone’s options against Ragans were limited in the wake of the two broken fingers Anthony Rizzo suffered when he was hit by a pitch in the next-to-last game of the regular season.
Berti worked out at first during the Yankees’ bye week (football term) before the start of the ALDS.
“He’s looked outstanding over there,” Boone said. “He’s played a little bit in spring training over the years. But [he’s] just a really natural infielder, and just the person that I have a lot of confidence in.
“Right now with, obviously, Riz going down with a day left in the season — not being ideal — we’re not necessarily in that perfect situation from a first-base standpoint . . . We feel like we can do some things at the bottom of the lineup athletically with [Berti] in there.”
If you had to pick a veteran player who had the least impact on the 2024 Yankees so far, Berti would be at the top of the list. Injuries limited him to 25 games after he was acquired from the Marlins on the eve of the regular season. He hit .273.
With Miami, Berti was mostly a dependable middle infielder who used to give teams — especially the Mets — fits with his speed. He had an MLB-best and career-high 41 stolen bases in only 102 games in 2022. He had five in six attempts for the Yankees this season.
The Yankees’ decision to carry pinch runner Duke Ellis on the ALDS roster was a clue that the club was planning for Berti to possibly not be available for pinch-running duty because he already was in the game.
With Rizzo out, the Yankees don’t have a true first baseman on the roster. They have Cabrera, Berti and Ben Rice, who started 41 games at first when Rizzo was out with a broken forearm (tough year). Rice is a natural catcher and lefthanded batter who hit .171 as a rookie after a fast start.
As Boone said, not ideal. Hence the dice roll with Berti.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.