When Chase Headley switched uniforms, his position in the standings wasn’t the only thing to change.
In his brief Yankees career, so has his luck.
The new third baseman, hitting .429 (6-for-14) through four games in The Bronx, produced his first multi-hit game for the Yankees on Friday night, going 3-for-4 in a come-from-behind 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays. He even had a bloop double down the left-field line, the kind of hit that eluded him this year in San Diego as he hit an anemic .229 while playing his home games at spacious Petco Park.
“It was perfect, wasn’t it?” he said, cracking a smile. “Haven’t had many of those in the first half of the year.”
He wasn’t part of many wins like Friday night’s with the dormant Padres, as the Yankees rallied from a three-run, first-inning hole to their seventh victory in eight games since the All-Star break. Headley had a big role. He singled and scored in the second and singled and scored again in the third, this time on Ichiro Suzuki’s three-run homer.
“I feel comfortable at the plate, I feel like I’m swinging at pitches for the most part I want to,” Headley said. “Sometimes, hitting is streaky, so when you’re swinging the ball well, things go your way. That’s how things have been going.”
Most importantly for Headley, when he arrives at the ballpark, he feels a tangible energy, the energy of excited fans and the Yankees pushing for October baseball after missing out on the playoffs last year.
“Coming from a team that was really not playing for a whole lot and coming into a pennant race, that’s great,” he said. “But also there’s something different about putting the pinstripes on. It’s a privilege, and I take it that way.”