Here is the new reality for Yankees fans:
The Tigers have the world’s most legitimate slugger in Miguel Cabrera, who blasted his 35th home run of the season yesterday, while Alex Rodriguez, who is supposed to be the Yankees’ power threat, has such physical issues he wasn’t even in the lineup because manager Joe Girardi thought he needed a day off after only four games back from offseason hip surgery and a strained quadriceps.
His replacement, Jayson Nix, struck out all four times he came to the plate in the Yankees’ hideous 9-3 loss to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
In looking at the A-Rod situation and the Yankees’ decline, it’s important to separate the noise from the reality.
What’s really happening here is the Yankees are in a franchise free-fall and the entire A-Rod saga is a smokescreen that hides other issues that ail this club.
Phil Hughes had another dreadful outing and his one-time roommate Joba Chamberlain was equally atrocious. Remember, when the Yankees were selling the notion Hughes and Chamberlain would be the home-grown pitching backbone of this club?
As for A-Rod, he continues to try to make the best of the situation by hearing what he wants to hear. And who can blame him at this point? A-Rod was expecting such an angry response from the fans Friday night he actually said yesterday he was “overwhelmed’’ by the mixed reaction when he was introduced.
Yes, “overwhelmed.”
“It was awesome, the fans are incredible, such great energy, such a great response,’’ Rodriguez said to reporters after not speaking to the media after Friday’s game. “It was pretty overwhelming. I was having a hard time keeping my emotions in check. It was so much better than I even dreamed of. I just felt the love walking around the city, pretty incredible. This city is the greatest city in the world.
“For the last 14 years there has always been a mix [of cheers and boos]. Do you ever get 100 percent of anything? I was overwhelmed. It was pretty incredible.’’
What’s not overwhelming is A-Rod’s swing right now, the same swing that produced a .111 slugging percentage against the Tigers in the 2012 ALCS, the swing that got him benched.
“He’s late on everything,’’ said one veteran scout at the series.
He’s late because of the inability to get the proper hip rotation.
A-Rod insisted he will correct the situation. He’s asking Yankees fans to give him time to get it right.
“It’s just a matter of getting in good playing shape and getting my legs under me. Hitting is all legs,’’ A-Rod told The Post before he took some swings in the indoor batting cages.
The suspension-plagued Rodriguez said he is over the mental burden of returning and that is a big relief.
“The first night in Chicago was big, [Friday] night was huge and now we’ll get back to playing baseball,’’ he said.
Rodriguez also has had individual talks with a number of teammates, apologizing for “the circus,’’ he created.
“He doesn’t have to apologize,’’ CC Sabathia told me. “He’s back. He’s fine, he’s healthy.’’
He’s just not close to being effective following two hip surgeries.
Girardi, who is overly cautious by nature, is being overly cautious with Rodriguez.
“He’s coming off an injury and just trying to manage it to make sure we keep him on the field the rest of the year,’’ Girardi said. “It’s day by day. We had a real late night [Friday] night. I’m trying to be proactive so we don’t run him into the ground where he ends up hurting something else. We need his bat and I want to make sure I keep him as fresh as possible.
“Until [Friday] night his at-bats were really good.”
Girardi pointed to that 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as a result of swinging at pitches out of the zone.
Rodriguez is swinging at those pitches because he has to start his swing earlier and does not have enough time to get a proper read on the pitch.
All that is the new reality, too.