How Yankees’ Didi Gregorius bested Derek Jeter — again

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius did something Derek Jeter never did at the plate in the 3-0 win over the Nationals at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 (6/12/18).

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NEW YORK — Yankees manager Aaron Boone noticed something different in shortstop Didi Gregorius. As Boone stood behind the batting practice cage, Gregorius was hitting hard line drives, looking more fluid than he had in a while.

“The ball was really jumping off his bat,” Boone said.

It leaped off his bat twice in the Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Nationals at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. 

Gregorius crushed two solo home runs. They were his first blasts since May 23. He’s got 13 bombs on the season. It was his third multi-homer game of the year, the first Yankees shortstop to accomplish the feat. 

Nope, not even Derek Jeter did it.

Last season, Gregorius became the first Yankees shorstop to record back-to-back 20-homer seasons, another thing Jeter never did.

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Gregorius took over at the position for Jeter in 2015, following Jeter’s retirement the previous year. Jeter is now a Marlins owner.

Gregorius has come back to life lately. In his last 12 games, he’s hitting .295, or 13-for-44.

That followed a particularly brutal stretch that came after the best month of Gregorius’ career.

Gregorius hit .060, or 4-for-67, in his previous 16 games — the worst slump of his life. In April, he earned American League Player of the Month honors, hitting .327 with 10 homers and 30 RBI with a 1.156 OPS.

Boone said he’s noticed Gregorius’ legs look a bit more stable at the plate of late.

“His feet really drive into the ground and especially on that second (home run),” Boone said. “You see his back leg just kind of rotate and he’s strong into the ground in a real powerful position and he hit a no-doubter. “

Gregorius acknowledged the fix.

“It’s easier said than done,” he said. “They’re making a lot of different pitches. So we try to balance it out and sometimes we get unbalanced and I think every hitter does and … mine took forever to get out. It’s just things that happened in the game, even though you’re ready for the fastball or the offspeed pitch, you’ve always got to stay balanced and I wasn’t balanced the way I wanted to be.”

Gregorius said he found something during his rough patch.

“I was getting to know myself through that slump,” he said.

“It’s a process,” he added. “If you trust it and all the guys in here trust you and help you to keep you relaxed and play the same right, you thank them too. I’m still not out of it, but there’s things you’ve got to work through to get better.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.