SEATTLE — A year ago, Alfonso Soriano dropped into a Yankees lineup that desperately needed a jolt and provided it by hitting .256 with 17 homers and 50 RBIs in 58 games after being acquired from the Cubs in late July.
Now, the lineup needs more than what Soriano gave it last year, and he is a big reason why the Yankees have averaged 2.5 runs per game in their previous 10 going into Tuesday night’s game against the Mariners at Safeco Field.
With the Yankees 31-31 and in serious danger of watching the Blue Jays run away with the AL East (they are 6 ½ games back), everybody has an opinion on what the Yankees need more: a starting pitcher or a run-producing bat?
They may not have the major league-ready talent or prized prospects a team craves to obtain either, but expect the Yankees to be very active before the July 31 trading deadline. They might not wait until next month to try to prop up a rotation that has two reliable starters in Masahiro Tanaka and Hiroki Kuroda and doesn’t know when CC Sabathia or Michael Pineda will return.
Joe Girardi insists his limp lineup will turn it around, but lately it’s being smothered by dead bats like the one Soriano has been swinging.
Last week, Girardi said Ichiro Suzuki would play right field against right-handers and Soriano versus lefties. It’s not ideal for two players who have been regular players in the big leagues in their long careers.
Girardi would love to see the streaky Soriano add much-needed power to a lineup that has hit four homers in the previous 13 games. But Soriano has been so lost at the plate and the Yankees so unable to score runs, the manager can’t afford to play Soriano regularly with the hope he gets hot.
“I am trying to do too much,’’ Soriano admits. “I have to see the ball first. I am trying to hit the ball before I see it.’’
That has led him to chasing pitches down and away and failing to make contact.
Since hitting his last homer on May 17 against the Pirates at Yankee Stadium, Soriano is batting .159 (7-for-44) with just three RBIs. He also has whiffed 20 times. Overall, Soriano is batting .229 with six homers and 20 RBIs in 55 games.
“I am not seeing the ball and I am jumping,’’ Soriano said.
Soriano isn’t alone in The Dead Bat Society.
Since coming off the DL last Thursday, Carlos Beltran is 1-for-14 (.071) with six strikeouts and one hit in five at-bats with runners in scoring position. Since returning from missing two games due to right wrist inflammation, Mark Teixeira is 4-for-19 (.211). Derek Jeter is in a 3-for-26 (.115) slide. Brian Roberts takes a 4-for-26 (.154) slump into Safeco Field.
Brian McCann, Beltran, Teixeira and Soriano were expected to be the Yankees’ muscle. Ten days into June, the four sluggers had combined for 28 homers and 90 RBIs. Beltran and Teixeira suffered injuries while McCann and Soriano have not lived up to expectations.
A power bat is almost as hard to find as a front-end starter, but expect the Yankees to try because the rotation needs help and a lineup Soriano injected life into last summer needs more than what he delivered a year ago and much more than he has contributed so far.