Yankees Granderson Picks Up Slack For Slumping Gardner

No one would have doubted that a New York Yankees player would be tied for the AL home-run lead at this point of the season, but nobody would have ever predicted his name would be Curtis Granderson.  The Yankees center-fielder is on fire over the last five games.  He is batting .421 (8-for-19) with four home-runs and six RBI's over that span.

The Yankees head into Baltimore for a scheduled three-game set against the Orioles--tonight's game has been called due to rain--as the AL East leaders and Granderson is the biggest SCUD on the Bronx Bombers.

Nine games into the season, Granderson was hitting .156 at the back of the order.  Since then, the 27 year-old has gone from batting ninth, then eighth and now second.  He has lifted his average to .273.

"I talked to [hitting coach] Kevin Long and he liked my at-bats and my swing," the rejuvenated player said.  "I wasn't really out of whack and there was no need to change.  It was a matter of an inch and being late."

Granderson always had a little pop in his bat, but heading to Camden Yards this weekend, he has homered in three straight games and, after struggling against lefthanders (.218 lifetime), is also taking them yard this year, hitting .353 (6-for-17), with three HR's and five RBI's.

Gardner, meanwhile, is stuck in a rut.  He has as many hits (six) as Granderson has home-runs and is carrying a minuscule .128 average and .196 OBP to the plate.

The 27 year-old right-fielder finally won the lead-off spot this season but, after his pitiful start, has been bumped down to batting ninth and watching lefties from the bench.

Two years ago, a slump like this cost Gardner his starting job to Melky Cabrera, but don't expect manager Joe Girardi to replace his speedster at one time.  Just expect to see Andruw Jones in the line-up against lefthanders.  Jones, another one of the Yankees scrap-heap pick-ups, has seen limited play and is hitting .250 with one homer.

Gardner knows he is rooted in a bad slump is hoping he can turn it around; much like Granderson has done over the last seven games.

"I feel like every day is an opportunity to come out here and turn it around," said Gardner.  "I don't think about too much long-term stuff right now."

The Yankees have been shuffling the struggling Gardner and inconsistent Derek Jeter at the number one and two spots all season and felt they had to pull Gardner after a horrible game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.  The speedy Gardner blew a sac-bunt and was thrown out stealing--his third time in six attempts this season.  Speed is considered Gardner's saving grace.

"The last thing you want to do when you're not swinging the bat well is to get the most at-bats on the team," hitting coach Kevin Long said.  "It's a smart move.  He a smart kid, so he gets it.  He doesn't have to be happy about it, but at this point in time, it's the best thing to do."

Gardner has been hitting the video rewind button pretty hard lately; while trying to find out where he is failing at the plate. 

"If you can be successful for a couple of months, there's no reason that I shouldn't be able to find that and get back in that groove again," he reasoned.

N.Y. Yankees Digging the Long Ball and Not Much Else

The New York Yankees are tied for the league lead in home runs with 18 but still look anemic at the plate.  A .236 team average is something the team is not used to--even if it is only nine games into the season--and seems worse when you realize four regular starters are well below the Mendoza Line with two others barely above it.

The Yankees No. 4 and No. 5 hitters,  Robinson Cano (.324) and Alex Rodriguez (.321), are batting at least 115 points over the leadoff and No. 2 spots--Brett Gardner (.167) and Derek Jeter (.206).

Out of the Yankees 70 total hits this season, 18 have gone over the fence.  They are on pace for a record 324 jacks and only 1260 hits.

Hot starts by Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira are faded memories.  The sliding threesome went 0-for-9 with 8 strikeouts against Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.  They have combined for nine home-runs but, with an average of .182, Teixeira is the stud of that bunch.  Take away the homers and those three are a combined 6-of-81.

Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long hasn't heard the Steinbrenner alarm yet--thanks to the awful start by the Red Sox and he puts on a happy face when asked about the slumping players.

"I've felt good about our offense thus far and I still do," Long said after the Sox ace struck out ten Yankees on Sunday.  "This isn't any time to hit the panic button just because Josh Beckett came out and threw the ball really well."

True.  But how does he justify the lack of hits against pitchers who didn't throw the ball as well as Beckett so far this year?

It seems unlikely that Jeter or Gardner won't pick it up at the top of the order or that Mark Teixeira won't be rattled from his annual April swoon.  And there's no way that the DH Posada or outfielder Granderson will still be batting .138 and .172, respectively, at the end of the season, but there has to be concern--even with a 5-4 record.

If anything the Yankee hits have been timely.  They were sixth in runs scored (50).

Manager Joe Girardi knows nine games do not make a season.  "You can't make too much of a few at-bats," he said.  "You can't just do it because early in the season you're going to see guys have ups and downs.  You're going to see it, and then as they start getting more at-bats under their belts, they start to get more consistent."

The Yankees may be hiding their lack of hits behind their home-run onslaught.  Everyone knows chicks really dig the long-ball, but I don't think hitting coaches do.