Damon, Giambi & Cano — Something Needs to Change.
[New York. April 18, 2008] It must concern Yankee fans that three of our starting players are batting under .204. Now, it may still be April — and nobody works in April — but, if you total those three players’ at bats, you have 160 turns at the plate to analyze. In those 160 official at bats, they have a total of 27 hits — a .169 batting average. Seventeen games into this season — sSomething needs to change.
The players — if you did not know already — are Johnny Damon (.204), Jason Giambi (.125) and Robinson Cano (.167). What can Girardi do? I have an idea (or ideas) –
(1) Bring up Shelley Duncan and put him on first base against all lefthanded pitchers until Giambi shows he can consistently hit (or at least lays down one bunt towards third base when they need a runner);
(2) Sit Damon for Matsui a little more often as Matsui obviously looks comfortable at the plate;
(3) Place Cano on the bench if he continues to struggle — maybe he will continue to win games as a pinch hitter or, more likely, maybe we will start to focus a little more at getting back to his true form.
The American League is too strong. The Yankees do not have the luxury they have had in the past — when there were five teams fighting for four playoff spots — and the Yankees could batter the AL East all summer to stay in the hunt. Now, the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Mariners and Angels all want October baseball (did I miss anyone?) and they all have a chance. And, the Oriels and Rays are much better than in years past.
The Yankees need a tweek — even one of the three detailed above. Until they do, they could find themselves fighting through the summer with this untested group of kids trying to get back to the playoffs. If Hughes can he the real deal and Wang can shake off last year’s collapse, they may have a chance to get out of the first round — but it just does not look like they will even get that chance.