It all made baseball sense. When the Yankees were facing righty starters, Joe Girardi sensed a vulnerability because he was batting Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano second and third, respectively.
Late in games, opposing managers could counter with a southpaw reliever to face both lefty hitters. So Girardi inserted Alex Rodriguez into the third spot, breaking up Granderson and Cano and forcing his counterparts to decide whether to stick with the situational southpaw to face A-Rod.
Except A-Rod is making this an easier choice by becoming a more routine out against lefties than righties. In fact, his decline of the past few seasons has been fueled, in part, by his diminished production against southpaws.
Consider that from the beginning of his career in 1994 through the Yankees’ 2009 championship season, A-Rod hit .295 with a .967 OPS off lefties while averaging a homer every 14 at-bats. But in the two-plus seasons since — a period of 251 at-bats against lefties — Rodriguez had managed to hit just .227 with a .722 OPS and a homer every 31.4 at-bats.
RED SOX TROUBLES, YANKEES RIVALRY HIGHLIGHT FENWAY ANNIVERSARY
He had opened this season 0-for-14 against lefties, tying Pittsburgh’s Clint Barmes for the most at-bats without a hit against southpaws. Wait, it gets worse: Rodriguez is hitless in 21 at-bats in games started by lefties — even if righty relievers entered at some point. He had just one homer off a southpaw in his past 69 at-bats.
Thus, Girardi must contemplate if A-Rod is truly offering enough impact to continue hitting cleanup when lefties start or batting between Granderson and Cano against righties.
Now a word of caution about de-emphasizing a historically great player: Not long ago, I thought the Yankees should drop Derek Jeter in the lineup, specifically against righty starters.
From June 2, 2010, through July 4, 2011, Jeter hit .232 in 499 at-bats against righties with just a .584 OPS and 21 extra-base hits. His .287 slugging percentage against righties in that period was the second-worst in the majors (minimum 500 plate appearances) to the slap-hitting Chone Figgins (.279).
That felt like a large enough sample — more than a season — to suggest Jeter should either sit or bat lower against righty starters. But since July 5 of last season, Jeter was hitting .344 overall, including .309 against righties with 16 extra-base hits in 233 at-bats.
Like with Jeter, I suspect Girardi will have a long leash with A-Rod for the same three reasons:
1. Legendary players deserve a greater benefit of the doubt.
2. Dropping a Jeter or A-Rod would not only emotionally harm that player, but — because of his importance — ripple through the clubhouse.
3. If you drop a player of status you must be confident in the replacement. Girardi was not sure Brett Gardner could handle a full-time assignment atop the order. And dropping A-Rod would mean elevating either Mark Teixeira (who already has lost his three-hole job) or Nick Swisher (who tends to put pressure on himself if the magnitude of the game or his role rises).
Of course, the Yankees’ best answer would be for A-Rod to revive as Jeter has. At the moment, Rodriguez still maintains some fear factor with nearly as many walks (39) as strikeouts (45) against lefties since the beginning of 2010. Hitting coach Kevin Long said, “I am not overly concerned about anything [Rodriguez] is doing [against lefties].”
But the word and the stats are going to get around. And if Rodriguez does not begin doing damage against southpaws, opposing managers are not going to see him as protection for Granderson and Cano. They are going to see him as not having much left.
Nunez deserves OF tryout
One reason the Yankees say they favored signing Raul Ibanez over Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui was Ibanez, though not a good outfielder, had been playing the field regularly the past few years, which Damon and Matsui were not. The Yankees figured that made Ibanez more capable as a fill-in if there were an outfield injury.
Now left fielder Brett Gardner is on the disabled list. But I think the Yankees should keep Ibanez mainly as a DH against righty starters, keep Andruw Jones mainly playing against lefties and use Eduardo Nunez as the primary left fielder. Ibanez and Jones are on one-year pacts and not part of the Yankees’ future. Nunez could be.
Nunez’s at-bats were supposed to come mainly as an infield fill-in for the aging Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. But the Yankees are serious about getting under the $189 million luxury tax threshold in 2014, which means they are not re-signing Nick Swisher after this season. Could Nunez grow into at least part of a right-field platoon where the Yankees do not feel compelled to spend big money on the position? There are some similarities between Nunez and Alfonso Soriano (wiry, athletic, erratic in the infield), and Soriano moved to the outfield eventually.
Here is an audition moment for the Yankees to get a promising player onto the field. Is Nunez a defensive liability in the outfield? Sure. But no more so than Ibanez.
Mo-st saves in the East
With saves on April 10 and 11, Mariano Rivera reached 40 for his career at Camden Yards. That moved him ahead of Randy Myers (39) and behind only Jorge Julio (43) for the most saves in that stadium. That speaks well of Rivera’s enduring excellence within the AL East. But also about the Orioles’ inability to find a long-term closer.
It is possible Rivera also could move up the all-time Fenway Park save list this weekend. He currently ranks eighth with 34. Lee Smith is seventh with 36. Derek Lowe is next at 39.
Elsewhere in the AL East, Rivera ranks third at the Rays’ Tropicana Field with 34 saves (Danys Baez is second with 39) and sixth at Toronto’s Rogers Centre with 26 (Kelvim Escobar is fifth with 32).