When the 2015 season started nobody knew what to expect from
this Yankees offense and especially from Alex Rodriguez. We know the stories
about missing the entire 2014 due to a steroid suspension and most of the 2013
season with a hip injury and various lower body injuries but Alex came out of
the gates on fire despite all the negative attention around him. At one point
Rodriguez was flirting with .300 and was in full attack mode on Willie Mays and
the all-time home run list in Major League Baseball. That was then, this is now
and it may be time to drop Rodriguez back down in the lineup.
This is not going to be a “pile on A Rod” type post because
nobody expected or expects Rodriguez to hit anywhere near .300 this season in a
large sample size and they would be foolish to think so. It may be time to drop
Rodriguez in the lineup because it may be the best thing for the team. With
Chris Young hitting well this season and Carlos Beltran finally starting to
come around the need for Rodriguez’s home run power is no longer a must have in
the third and fourth spots in the Yankees lineup. Also with the black hole that
is Stephen Drew, Didi Gregorius, Gregorio Petit and others at the bottom of the
lineup they may get a push having Rodriguez’s power at the bottom of the lineup
splitting up all the lefties.
I could sit here and bore you with a plethora of stats
showing his batting average in this spot of the lineup against the average in
that spot of the lineup and I could also show you how that directly correlates
with the Yankees record, but why? The team has played 27 games this season and
for all we know Rodriguez could go 0-for-the rest of the season, so why bother?
It doesn’t take a binder to tell you that his average is going to be low, his
strikeouts are going to be high and as long as there is another, and a better,
alternative in the middle of the lineup then Alex shouldn’t be there.
What do I know, I’m not a binder.
You beat me to it Daniel, there is a need for A-Rod in the #3 spot, but not this A-Rod at this time, this season. He will get things going again, that is a given (my opinion) but right now push 'em back.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea which is the better glove at 2nd base, Refsy or Pirela, but they have both been working out at 2nd, 3rd and the OF.
Pirela right now although it's hard to project Refsnyder since he spent so much time strictly in the outfield. Pirela jumped around everywhere.
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