Yankees' Slugger Luke Voit Returns From Injured List

Last year's home run king can officially defend his crown starting on Tuesday.

Luke Voit returned from his rehab assignment and was reinstated off the 10-day injured list, the Yankees announced on Tuesday morning. The slugger has been working back from left knee surgery to repair a partial meniscus tear all spring long.

New York was targeting the beginning of their series in Tampa Bay against the Rays—coming off Monday's off day—for Voit's return, so this news comes as expected.  

In his absence, New York has used four different players at first base, including Jay Bruce who ended up retiring after struggling mightily to start the season. Now, manager Aaron Boone is excited to hand the starting job back to one of the most reliable and dangerous bats in this high-octane lineup.

"He obviously is an impact hitter, an impact bat and just adds a little bit more length and a little bit more heaviness, obviously, to our lineup," Boone explained over the weekend. "It'll be good to get him back. I feel like he's in a good spot physically, he's been able to rack up a lot of live at bats now here these this past week. So looking forward to getting him for sure."

Voit won't come back to the big leagues cold. The first baseman is coming off a week of games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, a brief stint in Triple-A where he tore the cover off the ball. In five games, Voit hit .389/.476/1.000 (7-for-18) with three home runs, six RBI and three walks. 

He'll join a club that's finally starting to find their groove, going 7-2 on their nine-game homestand, winning 12 of their last 17 games. 

MORE:

• Yankees In a Better Place for Rays Rematch
• Gleyber Torres Hits One For His Mom, Snapping Home Run Drought
• Urshela, Odor Resume Baseball Activity After Left Knee Injuries

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