BRADENTON, Fla. — The time has come for Robinson Cano to add his enormous hitting talent to the meat of the Yankees’ batting order.
Ever since arriving in the big leagues on May 3, 2005, the sweet- swinging Cano has been comfort ably surrounded and protected by the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rod riguez, Johnny Damon, Mark Teix eira, Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Gary Sheffield and Jorge Posada.
Those studs allowed Cano to live in the lower half of the lineup, where the pressure to produce isn’t as strong as it is higher up.
Now, with Matsui gone to the Angels, Cano is likely to be elevated to fifth in the order to bat after Rodriguez and in front of Posada.
“He is ready for the next step,” hitting instructor Kevin Long said yesterday, well aware of Cano’s struggles with runners in scoring position last year, when Cano hit .207 (38-for-184) in the clutch. “We have taken good care of him.”
Joe Girardi will bat Cano fifth tomorrow against the Astros, when the manager posts what will likely be his Opening Day lineup April 4 in Fenway Park.
“He has always been projected to move up in the lineup,” Girardi said of the career .306 hitter former Yankees manager Joe Torre often compared to a young Rod Carew. “As a young player, you wanted to ease him in and he is not a young player anymore.”
Long said he believes the 27-year-old, left-handed hitting second baseman will handle the higher-profile spot that was vacated by Matsui, the World Series MVP, if he lays off bad pitches.
“I don’t think moving up in the order will be cause for him to panic or press,” Long said of Cano, who went 0-for-3 in a 10-5 loss to the Pirates at McKechnie Field but is hitting .474 (9-for-19) this spring. “The bottom line is he has to swing at good pitches, especially hitting behind Alex, where he will get something to hit.”
Seventh is where Cano has been slotted most often and where he has produced the best. In 247 games batting seventh, he is hitting .337 (324-for-961) and has an on-base percentage of .371. As a fifth place hitter, Cano is batting .299 (83-for-278) with an on-base percentage of .321.
Cano’s struggles with runners in scoring position a year ago were well documented and the issue will surface if he fails in the clutch hitting in an RBI spot.
“I know what I went through, but they trust me,” Cano said. “I will do what I am supposed to do with men on base. I will just play the game the same way, basically do my job.”
On most teams, Cano would have been hitting fifth sooner than his sixth year. On others, he would have been batting third by now.
And though Cano never complained about hitting seventh, he is looking at the fifth spot as a responsibility.
“It’s something I take pride in,” Cano said. “It’s one of those things they trust me. They want someone behind A-Rod so they pitch to him.”
Cano came to camp determined to work on not chasing pitches out of the strike zone and has been trying to offer only at strikes
“I have been doing that with men on base,” Cano said. “If they get outs on strikes there is nothing I can do. But I can’t be chasing pitches.”
Matsui and Abreu are both Angels now. Damon is a Tiger. Sheffield is out of baseball. Giambi is a bench player in Colorado. Jeter will hit first, Teixeira third and Rodriguez fourth.
Now, it’s time for Cano to offer the cover for the lower half of the order from which he benefited for the past five years.