Three weeks ago, the Yankees were sitting pretty atop the American League East with a 10.5 game lead over the second place Baltimore Orioles. Since then, the Yankees have gone 6-18, by far their worst stretch of the season. It all started in the Oakland series where the Yankees were swept in a four game set, each game being decided by one run. After that series, the Yankees have played the Mariners twice and took two out of three both times. They also played Boston and Baltimore and lost two out of three to each of those teams. In this series, the Yankees have made headlines by losing the first two out of four games and can only hope that CC Sabathia gives them a solid performance tonight to break their slide. A split in this series would be just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Yankees team that finds itself with a slim 4.5 game lead after Baltimore won in fourteen innings against the Mariners last night. They are no longer the favorites in the American League to win it all. They have been reduced to a laughing stock over the last three weeks because of their lackluster play.
Eric Chavez was interviewed after last night's loss and stated, "There should be a high level of concern." He also added, "Anybody who says there isn’t is lying. We’ve just got to win ballgames and we’re not finding a way to do that right now. There should be a concern. It’s that time of year where, yeah, it’s a concern. We have to start winning games.” Chavez went 2-4 with a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Yankees a temporary 2-0 lead. Chavez is spot on with his honesty, and it gives everyone some insight as to what the tone of the Yankee clubhouse is right now. There is no way the Yankees will win the division unless their starting pitching turns a corner, specifically with CC Sabathia and even more so, Ivan Nova. In a five game series, I don't think Ivan Nova is in the conversation as the fourth starter. Despite Hughes' mediocre performance last night, I believe that he would be the more viable candidate for a game four start.
Adding fuel to the fire is Girardi's decision to bat Granderson leadoff. That is one of the dumbest decisions I have seen by Girardi all season long. If he opens his eyes, he will see that Granderson is possibly the worst option in the lead off spot. I would rather have Raul Ibanez lead off than have to watch Granderson strike out three times in a game. A slump is a slump, meaning if a player is really struggling in the second spot of the batting order, nothing will change if you slot him into the lead off spot. It gives the struggling player an additional at bat that essentially goes to waste. Case and point, last night where Granderson popped out to Fielder to end the game with two on and two out in the top of the ninth inning. Granderson belongs in the bottom part of the order in this lineup and has no business batting first. If I were the manager, the lineup would look like this:
Nick Swisher
Robinson Cano
Mark Teixeira
Eric Chavez/Jayson Nix
Raul Ibanez/Andruw Jones
Curtis Granderson
Ichiro Suzuki
Russell Martin
The lineup isn't perfect, but it would vary based on who the Yankees were facing that particular day. The bottom line is that Granderson should be toward the bottom of the lineup with his low batting average and his strikeouts. He is a good fastball hitter, but I want someone else in the top who will provide me with a quality at bat. If Granderson is a true power hitter, it shouldn't matter where he bats.
The Yankees have quite the road ahead of them if they want to keep the top spot in the division. Tampa Bay and Baltimore are heating up and it would be a shame to see the Yankees hard work in the first half go to waste by a terrible finish to the season.
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