Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce retires at age 34

New York Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce of Beaumont, TX retired from Major League Baseball on Sunday at the age of 34 according to Ronald Blum of Yahoo! Sports. Bruce played 14 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees.

In 1650 games from 2008 to 2021, Bruce batted .244 with 319 home runs and 951 runs batted in. During 6642 plate appearances and 5964 at bats, Bruce scored 839 runs, and had 1455 hits, 312 doubles, 32 triples, 65 stolen bases, 600 walks, 2788 total bases, 28 times hit by a pitch, 46 sacrifice flies, and three sacrifice bunts. Bruce also had an on-base percentage of .314 and a slugging percentage of .467.

Three times in Bruce’s career he was a National League All-Star with the Reds. His all-star seasons came in 2011, 2012, and 2016. In 2011, Bruce batted .256 with 32 home runs and 97 runs batted in. That year he had a career-high 71 walks. In 2012, Bruce batted .252 with 34 home runs and 99 runs batted in. That season he tied a career-high with 89 runs scored. Then in 2016, Bruce batted .250 with 33 home runs and 99 runs batted in while with the Reds and Mets. He also had a career-high six triples.

Ironically, one could argue that Bruce’s best Major League Baseball season was a season he was not an All-Star. That came in 2013 when he batted .262 with 30 home runs and 109 runs batted in with the Reds. Bruce had career-highs in runs batted in (109), runs scored (89), hits (164), and total bases (299). The other time Bruce reached 100 runs batted in during a season (101 in 2017 with the Mets and Indians), he was not an All-Star either.

The last two seasons for Bruce have been a mighty struggle. He failed to reach the Mendoza Line last year with the Phillies as he only batted .198 in 2020, and then in 2021, Bruce was only batting .118 in the first 10 games with the Yankees. As for the Yankees in 2021, it has been a disastrous start for the Bronx Bombers. They have the worst record in the American League at five wins and 10 losses.