ICYMI: The Rant That Got Robert Refsnyder Promoted

If you follow us on Twitter you know that I have no love-loss for the Yankees second baseman, Stephen Drew. If you’re not following @GreedyStripes on Twitter then it’s likely that you miss out on four or five “Stephen Drew Sucks” tweets a night because I’ve made it my mission to tweet that after every out he makes or error he commits. As a fan of this team and as a fan that spends his money on Yankees jersey’s Yankees tickets, Yankees memorabilia, MLB TV subscriptions and such frankly I’m disgusted and I’m fed up. The Mendoza Line is being moved down from .200 to .175 and being named the Stephen Drew Line for crying out loud. Drew is really one of the best 750 players in Major League Baseball right now?


Jose Pirela is currently the Yankees backup second baseman and as much as I clamored for the guy last season he hasn’t exactly made me look good in 2015. Pirela’s defense has been atrocious, I’ll say it, while Drew’s has been above average and Pirela hasn’t done much to press the issue on the offensive side of the ball either forcing the Yankees to keep Drew in the lineup five days a week hitting in the 9th hole. I know the guy is making a monstrous, and I say this with the utmost sarcasm, $5 million this season but there are better options simply being wasted away in Triple-A, his name is Robert Paulson Refsnyder.


I’ve seen so many ridiculous tweets over this calendar year regarding Refsnyder as a below average defender with a miniscule improvement offensively but I vehemently disagree. The defense means nothing to me when the incumbent’s offense resembles that of a blind and crippled senior from the nursing home taking at bats for the local high school’s JV Baseball team. Neither does Drew’s 11 home runs on a team that fails to string hits together, manufacture runs and score many runs outside of the long ball. Waiting on the three run home run doesn’t work over the course of 162 and beyond. We’ve seen it far too many times and I thought the team was getting away from that. Drew brings that home run or die mentality and at this point the Yankees offense is dying.


Refsnyder not only brings a very much improved defense to the club, something all those tweeters are not exactly pointing out any more conveniently, a right handed bat that can even out a very left handed heavy lineup, average hitting, power hitting and power to the gaps, young legs and speed. In 77 games in Triple-A last year Refsnyder batted .300/.389/.456 with an OPS of .845 while hitting eight home runs and driving in 33 RBI. Refsnyder did strike out 67 times but he walked 41 times which more than made up for it. In 2015 thus far in 78 games, at the time of this writing, Refsnyder is batting .290/.388/.414 with an OPS of .802. Ref has hit seven home runs thus far and has drove in 36 RBI in a very pitching friendly PNC Park while walking 43 times and striking out just 44 times. Refsnyder has three less doubles, 16 to 19, in 2015 than he did in 2014 and has stolen nine more bases this season.


So to those who keep stating that Refsnyder is struggling or not putting the pressure on Drew and Brian Cashman this season after a great 2014 campaign, you’re wrong. If you were beating the drum for Refsnyder in the Bronx in 2014, and lord knows I was leading the marching band in that deparment, then you should be in 2015 as well. Maybe more so this season. Drew is a black hole at the bottom of the lineup and a black hole in the Yankees lineup. Refsnyder continues the youth movement around Major League Baseball and in the Bronx while being a sight for sore eyes in many Yankees fans eyes. Hal Steinbrenner wants ratings and attendance? Bring the fans what they want and something entertaining to watch because this offense goes to sleep after the first three innings. Brian Cashman wants to keep payroll down? Stop paying veterans who suck $5 million when you comparable or far superior players in the minor leagues. Joe Girardi wants victories? Stop playing Drew and start playing Refsnyder. I hate starting a Friday morning pissed off but this is how I feel and I can’t keep it bottled in anymore.





Refsnyder – 2016