Bronx-born Andrew Velazquez gets start for Yankees in pressure game
Andrew Velazquez #71 of the Yankees turns a double play over Hunter Renfroe #10 of the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning of the American League Wild Card game at Fenway Park on October 05, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. Credit: Getty Images/Maddie Meyer
One big surprise in Aaron Boone’s lineup for Tuesday night’s AL wild-card game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park was a kid from the Bronx starting at shortstop.
No, pressure, Andrew Velazquez. Welcome to the postseason.
The last Yankee to start at short in a winner-take-all game at Fenway? Bucky Dent in regular season Game 163 in 1978.
"He's a gamer," Boone said of Velazquez. "He's living the dream playing for his hometown team and obviously he's had some big moments for us this year. He's played well for us. I didn't even necessarily have a conversation with him to tell him (he was starting). He knows he's on this team and part of this team and ready to go."
Velazquez hit a first-pitch fly ball to left in his first at-bat leading off the third inning with the Yankees trailing 2-0.
Boone could have started Gio Urshela or Tyler Wade at short with Rougned Odor at third against Red Sox righthander Nathan Eovaldi.
Instead, he chose Velazquez in part because Urshela was not physically 100% after his remarkable catch and crash into the Rays dugout at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
Urshela, who suffered a bruised thigh, started at third base. Boone said he was confident Urshela was healthy enough to move to short later in the game if needed, but he didn’t want Urshela playing the whole game there if he had another option.
Velazquez, 27, had played in 68 big-league games from 2018-’20 with Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Baltimore before signing with the Yankees as a minor league free agent before the season.
He made his Yankees debut on Aug. 9 and impressed decision-makers and fans with his defense, baserunning and occasional pops of power at the plate.
Plus, his Bronx tale — living at home with his family while playing for the Yankees — was almost too good to be true.
But it was true. Velazquez appeared in every game of the 13-game winning streak in August that got the Yankees back into the playoff race. He was sent back to the minors on Sept. 12, but was called up from the taxi squad on Saturday with a playoff berth on the line, and again started at short.
"I’ve been kind of watching from a close distance on the taxi squad," Velazquez told YES on Saturday. "Just want to help any way I can . . . Just get my uniform dirty."
The Yankees lost that day, but Velazquez played defense in the top of the ninth the next day. He was one of the first players to race out of the dugout after the Yankees earned their playoff berth in the bottom of the ninth with a 1-0 walk-off victory.
Overall, Velazquez hit .224 (15-for-67) with four doubles, one triple, one home run, six RBIs and four stolen bases in 28 games as a Yankee.
While waiting for his chance on the taxi squad, Velazquez said he was "getting as many swings as a I can. Not trying to overdo it, though. If you're not ready at this point in the season . . . There's no adjustments to be made, necessarily. Your swing is your swing at this point. So just go out there and compete."
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.
