How Yankees scouts saw Luke Voit as unearthed gem

Scouting director Dan Giese explains what made Luke Voit stand out to the Yankees as a potential impact bat.

NEW YORK — Well before “Luuuke!” chants filled the Bronx, the Yankees did extensive homework on Luke Voit.

Well before Voit clubbed homer after homer and took Greg Bird‘s job at first base, Yankees scouts and analysts identified a 6-foot-3, 225-pound slugger whose “off the charts” skills could work well at Yankee Stadium, said Dan Giese, the Yankees’ professional scouting director.

“We saw the peripherals of what he’s doing and obviously, even the surface-level stuff was really good,” Giese said Thursday afternoon, before Voit clubbed a two-run shot to center field in a 11-6 loss to the Red Sox.

“We thought, ‘He’s going to help us here.'”

Yankees scouts had seen the 27-year-old not long before general manager Brian Cashman acquired him and $1 million in international bonus pool money from the Cardinals in exchange for relievers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos not long before the July 31 trade deadline.

Inside Sheffield’s debut

Initially, Voit’s role was to supplant Tyler Austin, whom the Yankees traded to the Twins for pitcher Lance Lynn, as a righty platoon bat and Triple-A first baseman.

But he’s meant so much more.

On Wednesday, Voit had the best game of his big-league career, going 4-for-4 with two homers in a trouncing of the Red Sox.

Going into Thursday, he was hitting .323 with nine homers and 20 RBI in 29 games with the Yankees.

And he’s helped as one of the bats carrying the Yankees through a general offensive downturn, while also providing a jolt with his energy.

Giese, a former big-league pitcher, rattled off the qualities the Yankees’ scouts and analytics department recognized in Voit when he was still just a potential trade target.

Giese noted Voit’s “quality of contact,” “zone control” and “barrel rate” displayed at Triple-A Memphis.

Giese explained zone control as, “he does damage with pitches he’s supposed to.” The 41-year-old added that Voit’s “contact rate at Triple-A … his Triple-A stuff was off the charts.”

“And he’s got a right-center approach, which works well obviously with us,” Giese said, referring to the Yankee Stadium short porch.

“Scouting and analytics, we work hand-in-hand really well. All our decisions are made through those pillars.”

So far, it’s looks like they got it right with Voit.

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