Kelly Johnson was among a group of Yankees taking early batting practice before Friday’s series opener against the Red Sox, because the Yankees were coming off an off day.
And he believed he was close to being productive, despite being in the early stages of a slump.
“I feel good,” Johnson said. “I like where I’m at. As far as the results not really being there, to be honest, I don’t want to change. I feel good at the plate and the results will come.”
He was right.
Johnson’s fourth-inning homer in a 6-0 win was his first in nearly two months, which isn’t exactly what he or the Yankees were looking for when they signed him to be their everyday third baseman — and backup first baseman.
But he has been unable to prove he can play on a regular basis against lefties and has occasionally not even played against righties during Yangervis Solarte’s hot streaks.
Now that Solarte is in the midst of another brutal stretch, the Yankees could use more of what they saw from Johnson on Friday.
“I’m not going to make any excuses about playing or not playing,” said Johnson, who entered the game with just two hits in his 15 previous at-bats. “I feel good. I control what I can control, whether the ball is flying out of the yard or not.”
Lately, it hasn’t been. Before he crushed a pitch Boston starter Brandon Workman mistakenly left on the inside part of the plate to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead, Johnson hadn’t gone deep since May 3 — a stretch of 84 at-bats.
It was Johnson’s fifth homer of the year and all of them have come at Yankee Stadium. Not surprisingly, four of them have been against right-handers.
Johnson still would like to get more of a chance against lefties, insisting it’s not a lack of ability but a lack of opportunity that has prevented from having success.
“The left-handed thing, the only issue I have is getting to face them,” said Johnson, who has just 34 plate appearances against southpaws this season, compared with 137 against right-handers. “It’s about getting a comfort level. When a lefty is starting for the other team, it seems like I don’t play. It’s not really discouraging, but you just want to play.”