Gio Urshela surprises Yankees: 'Nobody thought Gio would be this guy'

Alexis Mansanarez

Gio Urshela surprises Yankees: 'Nobody thought Gio would be this guy' image

The Yankees have been pleasantly surprised by Giovanny Urshela's recent success.

It's something the team was admittedly not prepared for when it acquired the third baseman from the Blue Jays in August 2018. 

“Nobody thought Gio would be this guy,” general manager Brian Cashman told Yahoo Sports . “What he is doing now was not anything we felt we were tapping into.”

After hitting .225 in 167 major league games for Cleveland and Toronto from 2015-18, Urshela is batting .337 through 102 games this season. 

He is also improving in every other category with 18 home runs, 64 RBIs and a .964 OPS in 101 games in 2019 — all of which comes after he posted eight homers and a .589 OPS over the last three seasons.

The 27-year-old's hot bat was highlighted at the beginning of the week when he hit a 461-foot home run versus the Orioles.

He had a total of 10 hits through the four-game series.

“We had been trying to acquire him for awhile,” Cashman said. “We daydreamed about him being a very versatile utility player. We loved his glove.

"We were very fortunate that we ran into him at the proper time of his development."

 

Alexis Mansanarez