There is something not right about the Yankees.
And just how not right can perhaps best be exemplified with this bit of information: Mark Teixeira homered off Cleveland’s Scott Kazmir in the third inning on June 4.
Doesn’t sound like much of a fact, does it?
Except that is the last homer hit by a Yankee righty hitter. They have gone 17 games and 249 at-bats by righties since then with nada, zilch leaving the yard. It is their longest homer-less drought since going 18 straight games late in the 1979 season.
Wait, it gets worse.
That is the only homer by a Yankees righty since David Adams took Baltimore’s Darren O’Day deep in the ninth inning on — wait for it — May 22. That’s not a typo: May 22.
The Yankees have played 29 games since then, and in that time their righties are hitting .185 with a .241 on-base percentage and a .224 slugging percentage. That is a period of 406 at-bats and zero homers. A month with one homer by a righty. A month!
If it feels like you are watching a procession of Vernon Wells, Davis Adams and Jayson Nix go meekly into the night, you are.
Wait, it still gets worse.
General manager Brian Cashman revealed yesterday Teixeira has lingering soreness in his right wrist even a week after a cortisone shot. Cashman said “the doctors are working through it” to determine what to do next with Teixeira, who partially tore the tendon sheath in the wrist preparing for the World Baseball Classic.
But in the game of connect the dots, it seems an ever-growing likelihood Teixeira will need season-ending surgery. That would remove yet another potential righty solution, considering the switch-hitting Teixeira always has been stronger from that side.
You would think this would have the Yankees trying to accelerate the rehabs of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez or working the phone lines to find a righty bat or even scouring the planet to find Andruw Jones.
But there is this impossible little detail: The Yankees are actually 15-9 when their opponent starts a lefty. That is tied for the best record in the majors and stands alone in the sport in defying logic.
The Yankees’ .653 OPS vs. southpaws is 26th in the majors and next-to-last in the AL. They have just 23 homers by righty hitters — only the Royals (19) have fewer. Overall, Yankees righties were hitting .219, their slugging percentage of .319 was the worst in the majors by 15 points and their .601 OPS was the worst by 17 points.
The poor results are explainable. Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis, all with long histories of beating up lefties from the right side, have missed most or all of the season. After a torrid opening statement, Wells’ bat has withered (his last homer was May 15). There was no pick-me-up from players such as Ben Francisco and Thomas Neal.
The Yankees obviously build around lefty power. Still, having essentially no righty heft leaves the Yankees unbalanced and seems to be motivating opponents to use southpaws more often and in more situations, even to face righty batters later in games.
The Yankees can hope that Jeter and A-Rod return to help. Their rehab news has been positive of late, but both are returning from serious injuries. Jeter just turned 39 and A-Rod turns 38 next month. Expecting no setbacks or further skill regressions might be farfetched, and the Biogenesis specter hangs over A-Rod.
Plus, they are still, at best, a few weeks away. Because that duo and Teixeira have loomed as possibilities to return, Cashman told me yesterday he has not been pushing hard to find a righty bat. Even now, he said he would have to know the full diagnosis on Teixeira before acting.
But he also cautioned that righty bats with oomph are not easy to obtain.
I wrote last week and continue to believe the Yankees should try to use Phil Hughes and/or Joba Chamberlain as trade bait for a righty hitter. There appears to be a group of NL contenders that particularly need to address their rotations and bullpens.
For example, would the Padres part with Kyle Blanks or Chris Denorfia for a Yankees arm, or might the Phillies consider moving John Mayberry Jr. for the same type of return?
Because it is becoming clearer and clearer as this season progresses that the Yankees need the “right” man for this job.