ARLINGTON, Texas — Having hit very little but rock bottom Curtis Granderson went to Kevin Long Tuesday for help.
Granderson, the Yankees’ biggest off-season acquisition who was counted on to replace some of the left-handed power lost when Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui departed, figured there was only one direction his hack could go and it wasn’t down.
“He said, ‘How much worse can it get?’ ” Long said before the Yankees’ 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Rangers last night. “I agreed.”
So, the hitting coach went to work on Granderson with such intensity that Long asked Joe Girardi to give him a few more sessions before the left-handed hitting center fielder returns to the lineup.
Granderson started Monday against Boston lefty Jon Lester but didn’t start Tuesday versus Texas lefty C.J. Wilson after entering Long’s laboratory earlier in the day. He did get an at-bat in the 10th inning of a 4-3 loss and flied to left field. Last night, Granderson scored a run in the ninth inning as a pinch runner but did not get an at-bat.
Though Granderson was a .300 (12-for-40) hitter against Cliff Lee, the Rangers’ starter last night at The Ballpark, Girardi agreed that the work with Long would be more beneficial in the long term.
Long agreed it’s radical thinking to completely overhaul a 29-year-old’s swing with six weeks left in the season. Nevertheless, Granderson is batting .239 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .306. Against lefties he is at .206 (21-for-102).
“If it goes backward, I don’t think it will go backward and down,” Long said. “There might be bumps in the road, but I am looking for good things.”
Long, who said Granderson has accepted the very difficult process well, is attempting to take a lot of length out of Granderson’s overly long swing.
“We are trying to shorten his swing, to get it as compact as possible,” Long said. “He has length to his swing and has had length to his swing for a long, long time. He has been an All-Star with length to his swing. But at this point we are going to shorten it as much as we can.”
“We are trying to eliminate the moving parts to get to the balance point,” said Granderson, who pinch ran last night and scored the tying run in the ninth. “I have been changing swings my whole career.”
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Girardi went through the body parts that have given Jorge Posada trouble this season as if checking off items on a punch list at a construction site.
“The foot is OK, the calf is OK, the Baker cyst [knee] is something we have to deal with, I don’t think the shoulder is an issue, either,” Girardi said before last night’s game, where Posada was behind the plate after Girardi rested him in Tuesday night’s loss because of a “stiff and sore” right shoulder.
Posada had a tough night, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk. He also botched a rundown play at third. After making an off-balance throw late in Monday’s game against the Red Sox, Posada told Girardi Tuesday that his shoulder, which underwent surgery in 2008, was hurting.
“Knowing Jorge’s history when he says something hurts, it hurts,” Girardi said.
A fractured foot put Posada on the DL. The cyst and a calf problem have forced him to miss games. And the addition of Lance Berkman to DH has taken away non-catching at-bats away from the 38-year-old switch-hitting Posada.
Naturally, Posada wants to play as often as possible.
“He makes out the lineup,” Posada said of Girardi. “I am OK.”
Girardi said it’s his responsibility to the Yankees and Posada to protect his health.
“It’s something we have to deal with. I have a job to make sure he stays healthy,” Girardi said. “Players always want to play and you don’t want them any other way. I have to remind Jorge he is not 25. He is going to be 39 in a week. I could run him out five days in a row but I am not sure when we would get him back.”
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Mark Teixeira will rejoin the team tonight in Kansas City. The switch-hitting first baseman missed the last two games to be with his wife Leigh and son William Charles, who was born Tuesday.
How the interruption will affect Teixeira will be interesting to monitor. Since July 1, Teixeira is batting .323 (42-for-130) with 13 homers and 37 RBIs.
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Andy Pettitte takes a big step today in his rehab program from a left groin injury in Tampa when he pitches in a simulated situation. If Pettitte doesn’t experience any problems, he would likely pitch in a minor league game Tuesday in Trenton (Double-A). When Pettitte went down on July 18, the Yankees hoped he would be back by Sept. 1. Providing there are no setbacks he might return before then.
“I talked to him and told him, ‘Just pitch,’ ” Girardi said. “And not worry about covering the bases. Just pitch.”
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Versatile reliever Alfredo Aceves will make a second rehab appearance tomorrow night for Trenton and the hope is that he is sharper than Tuesday night when he worked two-thirds of an inning, walked two and fanned one.
“He wasn’t sharp but I am not surprised, he hasn’t been on the mound since [May 8],” Girardi said.
What’s next after Friday hasn’t been decided.
“It depends on how sharp he is,” Girardi said.
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Derek Jeter is on a 48-game errorless streak into last night’s action. That’s the longest streak of his career according to Elias Sports Bureau.