LISTEN: Didi Gregorius Downplays His Great Season, Says He's Focused On Winning A Ring
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Didi Gregorius is not interested in reflecting on his best season yet.
Because, after all, there's still work to be done.
"The season, for me, is not over yet," the Yankees shortstop told WFAN's Mike Francesa on Monday, a day before his team faces the Minnesota Twins in the American League wild-card game. "It's not just playing for the season; you want to play to win a ring at the end. So right now, that's what we're trying to do and trying to play our best game tomorrow."
But the fact remains Gregorius had a terrific season and is a big reason the Yankees are where they are. He batted .287 with 25 homers, 87 RBIs and 73 runs scored -- all career highs.
Even Gregorius admitted he never thought he'd hit 25 home runs. But he said he's not swinging for the fences.
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"Things just happen," he said. "I'm not going out there just showing for power. Just trying to hit a ball all over the field, and if they go out, they go out."
Finally, the questions about following Derek Jeter have quieted down, although Gregorius hasn't forgotten how difficult it was for him when he joined the Bombers in 2015.
"I think the media just asking Jeter questions after Jeter questions every day no matter if I did something good or bad, and it didn't really matter," he said. "So they didn't let me a chance to be myself and play the game, just try to be the guy who played after Derek Jeter."
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And how does he think the Yanks will fare Tuesday?
"The team is good," Gregorius said. "Everybody sees how we ended September. Got to try to go into October with the same momentum. So I think that's really good. That's what you really want from a team. I think everybody's ready."
To listen to the interview, in which Gregorius also makes his case for Aaron Judge to win AL MVP, click on the audio player above.
