Jon Berti can bring value off the Yankees’ bench

When Jon Berti entered in the 11th inning of Wednesdays game against the Royals, there was no mystery about his purpose.

After missing nearly four months with a calf injury, the 34-year-old was called on to use his most reliable attribute upon his return: speed.

With the game tied and Juan Soto up to bat to lead off the inning, Berti replaced Gleyber Torres as the automatic runner on second base.

After Soto moved him over to third with a groundball and Aaron Judge was intentionally walked, Jazz Chisholm Jr.

slapped a ball towards Bobby Witt Jr.

at short.

Witt made a valiant effort, diving to catch the ball and rifling it home from his perch on the lip of the the infield dirt.

But the throw was wide and, likely, futile.

Berti raced home, diving headfirst as his outstretched hand swiped home plate for the walk-off victory.

The very next night, this time against the Red Sox , Berti was again tapped to pinch-run for Torres in extras.

Soto handled the job himself, punching a sinking liner just out of the reach of Boston shortstop Trevor Story that rolled out to center field.

Ceddanne Rafaela came up throwing, releasing a one-hopper just after Berti rounded third.

The throw was offline towards the third-base side as Berti dove home in fair territory to avoid a tag that never reached him.

Pandemonium in the Bronx, redux.

Acquired in a three-team deal at the start of the season that saw the Yankees part with backup catcher Ben Rortvedt, the team initially had hoped Berti could serve in a valuable super-utility role, particularly with DJ LeMahieu starting the year on the IL.

His season was quickly derailed by injury, though, leaving him a relative afterthought upon his return to the active roster.

As anyone tuning in could clearly see this week, there is still a role for the veteran speedster on the Yankees as they enter the seasons final stretch.

But how impactful could that role be? And does Berti have a path to postseason playing time? The clearest avenue is the way hes been deployed thus far as the Yankees premier speed option off the bench.

Its a role the team has struggled to fill competently in Bertis absence.

Their player with the most pinch-running opportunities this season, Jahmai Jones, has since been relegated to Triple-A and is only slightly faster than the average major leaguer anyway, with a sprint speed ranking in the 57th percentile.

Oswaldo Cabrera, the Yankee on the active roster whos had the most chances to run off the bench this year, has a sprint speed ranking in the 56th percentile.

Throughout the season, when looking for a spark off the bench to replace a lumbering baserunner, the Yankees best options were mostly mediocre.

In steps Berti.

Despite his age, the longtime burner still ranks in the 94th percentile across baseball in sprint speed.

And he brings more than pure speed; just two years ago Berti swiped an MLB-best 41 bags while being caught only five times for a remarkable 89% success rate in the year before rule changes made base-stealing easier for runners.

In his five years in Miami Berti accumulated 11 runner runs, a statistic which does not factor in steals but instead considers a baserunners ability to advance on the bases.

Those 11 runner runs were tied for fourth-most in all of baseball during that stretch despite his being a part-time player for much of that time.

The wily Berti attempted to advance more often than the MLB average in each of his campaigns with the Marlins and was not thrown out on a batted ball play a single time during his tenure with the team.

Heres an example of Bertis combination of speed and baserunning ability brought to bear as the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of a game in Chicago as he scores from first when most runners would have been content to stay at third.

But Bertis value does not lie solely on the basepaths.

In 2,742 career innings between third, shortstop, and second, the versatile infielder has accounted for 13 defensive runs saved.

Last season, he ranked in the 88th percentile in baseball with five outs above average, a statistic which attempts to measure a players range.

While not quite a Gold Glover, Bertis ability to provide above-average defense at third and second could prove valuable should the team look to replace Chisholm, who has adapted remarkably well to third base but is still very inexperienced there, or Torres, whose -11 defensive runs saved are tied with Jose Altuve for the worst among second basemen, for defense late in games.

Beyond those auxiliary roles, Bertis defensive flexibility and serviceable contact bat could make him a viable option to start should one of the Yankees infielders go down with an injury in the coming weeks.

While Cabrera has mostly filled that super-utility role capably this season, Bertis athleticism would be likelier to provide a spark to the team.

Even in the likely event that Bertis role is relatively limited in its scope to late-game replacement work, dont be surprised to see him called upon in crucial spots.

If the Yankees are to make a run this year, it will likely involve their 34-year-old baserunning extraordinaire racing home in some of their biggest moments, just as he did on back-to-back days this week..

This article has been shared from the original article on pinstripealley, here is the link to the original article.