New York YankeesMr. Kurkjian wrote this article on September 1st. Let's look at his game-lines from August 31st on...
Alex Rodriguez. His horrendous play -- he is mired in a 7-for-39 slump with 16 strikeouts -- is what makes baseball so great. The best player in the American League over the last 10 years is playing as if he has forgotten how to play.
RodriguezThis never happens in football or basketball. No great NBA shooting guard wonders if he's ever going to hit another shot. Michael Jordan, even on the worst day of his prime, was always the best player on the court.
But just as quickly as a player can lose it in baseball, he can find it, also without explanation. Rodriguez needs to find it now if the Yankees are going back to the World Series.
August 31st: 3-for-4, 2 runs, one 2b, one HR, 2 RBIs, and one stolen base...
September 1st: 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs...
September 2nd: 0-for-3, one K...
And today, September 3rd: 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 HRs, 5! RBIs... and maybe, the most important stat, no boos...
Granted, the man the Twins put out there to pitch today, Matt Garza, is a rookie, and Pat Neshek (the man A-Rod took deep in the 7th) is a rookie as well... but this game was huge for A-Rod and the Yankees for a few reasons...
1. Throughout the season, the Yankees have had problems with pitchers they have never faced before... and Matt Garza (as forementioned before) is a rookie who the Yankees never faced before...
2. The Twins are a potential ALDS opponent, and any time you can beat up on a team you may face in the playoffs is always a good thing (granted, no Santana and Liriano this series, but let's stay positive here :-P)...
3. It only takes a few at-bats for someone to get hot... and in the past 4 days, A-Rod has gone 9-for-17 with 5 HRs and 10 RBIs, helping him have another 30 HR/100 RBI season for the 9th straight season (2nd behind Jimmie Foxx with 12)... if A-Rod's hot, going into the playoffs, the "A-Rod isn't clutch" talks may finally fade away...
4. Darrell Rasner made the Nationals look foolish waiving him earlier in the year... the man doesn't have blow-you-away stuff (95+ mph fastball and the like), but his off-speed stuff can get many batters off-balance, as the Twins clearly showed today with Rasner's 1 run, 6 inning outing...
If Rasner was able to pitch a few games earlier in the year, I would have said that his performance today (and against the Tigers June 1st, 1.2 innings, one hit, one K) was Aaron Small-like... but to me, relating any pitcher to Aaron Small or Shawn Chacon is a kiss-of-death, and would I really want to jinx a pitcher's career like that? I didn't think so...
and 5. A look at the box score today shows that more good was done...
Scott Proctor rebounds from his last outing (giving up a 3 run HR... let's not talk about that) with a hitless/scoreless 1.1 inning outing with one walk... and Farnsworth comes in with a hitless/scoreless 1 inning outing with 1 K...
Our bullpen will need to be on if we want to have a chance in the playoffs, period. If Farnsworth, Proctor and Villone (hopefully, he bounces back) can get going by the end of September, they should be ready for the postseason...
However, rest is needed... we'll see how Torre works all that out during the rest of the month...
Happy reading!
B(rent)
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