2010 Draft: How'd we do? More importantly, should anyone care?

As I've discussed before on this site, the common perception of the modern-day Yankees is that they're a franchise with an infinite amount of money who can simply buy up the best available players at will year in and year out.  They identify the position they need to fill, locate the best player at that spot on the market, wait for other teams to outbid each other, then just clobber the highest offer at the last second and hope that the smell of cash stacks and the prospect of pinstripe glory will coerce the desired free agent into their camp.  To a large extent, this is an accurate description of the Brian Cashman, et. al.'s approach to team building.  The most recent championship would stand as a testament to that, as C.C., A.J., and Marky Mark were all snatched in approximately such a fashion over the '08-'09 offseason.

So the sensible question concerning the draft and its relevance to the Yankee organization then becomes, 'why bother?'  Who cares if your first round pick is a bust or if none of your prospects make it past A-ball when you can just snatch up a big name whenever a small-money club's contract dries up?  The problem with this attitude is that you get the kinds of teams that you had from '02 through '08, the line-ups that lacked the chemistry, the cohesiveness, the small-ball, pesky-hitting role-players, the sense of pride that was characteristic of the late'-'90s dynasty.  What those squads did boast were plenty of muscled-up, roid-laden, home-run loving, rickety-arm throwing veteran-guns-for-hire.  You need a balance of free agent spot-fillers and born-and-bred farm projects.  Hence the '09 dominance:  Tex, Burnett, Damon, A-Rod, Hinske, Swisher, and Sabathia on one side of the equation and Jeter (6th pick), Cano (amateur free agent signing), Melky (ditto), Pettitte (22nd round!), Hughes (23rd pick), Joba (41st), Posada (24th round), and Gardner (3rd) on the other.

This year, the Yanks had 50 picks, their highest being the 32nd selection, the final pick of the first round.  With that choice, they went with high school shortstop Cito Culver, a kid who I can only assume they are looking to groom into the next Jeter.  He's a 17-year old switch hitter who currently stands at 6'0" and 172lbs.  The available reports claim that he has decent range, a strong arm, and above-average speed.  If he doesn't pan out at short, it sounds like they might try him in center field or keep him around as a utility guy before dumping him (their usual, M.O. with youngsters).  The most troubling thing is the allegation that "scouts have questioned his effort level on the field."  Sounds to me like a kid that has a lot of maturing to do before he'll be ripe for the plucking, in terms of both his physical and mental skills.  The athleticism is there; its a matter of fine-tuning and harnessing.  If all else fails, they'll probably scoop Hanley in a trade of some sort once the Marlin market evaporates (apologies to my boy Jake, but unless they get approval for a new stadium that team is done).

Their next choice was another high school shortstop named Angelo Gumbs, and he too shows great signs of athletic promise, although he has professed that he wants to be a center fielder in the bigs more than an infielder.  Some have even said that his physical prowess exceeds Culver, and with the right training, he might surpass him in the coming years.  With a near identical build at 6 feet, 175lbs., Culver's notable advantages over Gumbs are probably his arm and his switch hitting ability, although Cito has some improving to do from the right side.  Should be interesting to see how these seeds grow.

The first pitchers taken were Thomas Kahnle of Lynn University (pick #175) and high schooler Gabe Encinas (pick #205), both right-handers.  Kahnle, a squatty 6'1" 220-pounder, was awarded the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Div-II national and Southern region tournaments, and won the MVP for Lynn as a closer for the championship team.  He has hit the gun as a reliever in the mid-90's range, occasionally grazing 98, but as a starter scouts place him more in the area of 92.  The catch?  No #2 pitch.  A curve that doesn't curve and a change-up that with work might become decent.  He could become a Manny Delcarmen type of reliever if he develops the offspeed ball; otherwise he might be doomed for minor league obscurity.  Encinas, on the contrary, is of a lankier make at 6'3" 195lbs., and is thought by most to have a higher developmental ceiling than Kahnle and most other teenage hurlers for that matter.  He features a crafty sinking fastball that clocks in the low-'90s, and while his other pitches (a solid hook and one of the better change-ups among California high-schoolers) need some work, this 18-year old kid is impressing scouts with his knowledge of how to mix pitches and work the strike zone.  In my biased opinion, this is the most exciting pick the Yanks made in this draft, and from what I've read, Gabe has a great deal of major-league caliber potential waiting to be tapped.  Optimistically, I envision him as a Tim Hudson type of starter, maybe a couple of pegs shy of that level.  Here's hoping.

Rounding out the top 10 selections are righthanded third baseman Robert Segedin of Tulane (pick #112), three highschool center fielders (Floridians Mason Williams and Benjamin Gamel at #145 and #325 respectively, and Taylor Anderson from Louisiana at #235), senior first baseman Kyle Roller of East Carolina (pick #265), and Taylor Morton, another highschool northpaw from Tennessee (pick #194).  A lot of young athletic outfielders drafted in the upper rounds indicates to me that the Yanks seem intent on trying to turn at least one of these adolescents into the next Austin Jackson...who they traded.  Sigh, Cashman.  Of the 50 players taken, 28 were pitchers, 8 of them lefties.  Four catchers were selected, the highest being Christopher Austin (pick #415), a 6'2" 200-pound highschooler from Georgia.  Overall, the trend seemed to be to draft young athletic ballplayers in the very early rounds and predominantly experienced college players from there on out.  Pitching was clearly a focus through all stages of the draft even more so than last year, when they nabbed 24 young chuckers.  The difference is that last year 6 of their top 10 picks were pitchers, and 3 of those arms were of a southern orientation.  There seemed to be more of a clear shift from the bump to the outfield, possibly motivated by their current lack of outfield minor talent.  If there is seriously no one better than Marcus Thames and Randy Winn in the farm system, then this point becomes all the more convincing.

Well that raps it up.  For a more rigorous player-by-player analysis, check out bronxbaseballdaily.com.  Apparently that guy is going to try to do a blurb on as many of the 50 picks as he can.  I commend that dedication, sir, but as for me...let's just say I have other obligations.

Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

6/9/10 - Camden Yards (Baltimore, MA)

Game 2: Yankees 4, Orioles 2

Box Score

So remember yesterday where I left off pondering what Chris Tillman would show up for the O's tonight and whether or not the Yanks would have their usual dumbfounded performance against an inexperienced pitcher? I guess the answer to that question is ambiguous at best. Tillman wasn't exactly brilliant and the Yankees weren't exactly confounded at the plate. The second-year starter worked his fastball high and tight and mixed in a slow hook and a change-up with some effectiveness over the first five frames of baseball, allowing just 1 unearned run and evenly distributing 5 singles. He ran into some problems in the second inning after a Robinson Cano opposite field single and a Posada walk (an at-bat in which the youngster got screwed out of two blown strike calls, from my view). But the kid stayed with it, getting the 7, 8, and 9 hitters, Curtis Granderson, Francisco Cervelli, and utility man Kevin Russo, all to fly out. Just more evidence of the weakness of their bench and the back end of that batting order, two areas where they have fallen off significantly from last season.

The aforementioned unearned run came in the fourth when Cano (who got on base with yet another oppo-field single to extend his multi-hit streak against the O's to 9) was batted in by a Granderson sacrifice fly. Cano had advanced to second on an errant pickoff through by Tillman, then moved to third on a grounder to second by Jorge Posada. Shooting yourself in the foot is not exactly a recommended practice at the major league level, especially against the Yankees. Dude, why were you even throwing over in the first place? Cano isn't a base stealer and it's doubtful he's thinking about it with no outs and his team down 2-0. Mental mistakes usually come back to haunt you in this game, my lad.

That run loomed even larger in the sixth inning when the Yanks jumped ahead in what proved to be the deciding rally. After Mark Teixeira singled on a slow-roller that foiled the deep shift at second, Tillman fed Alex Rodriguez not one, not two, but three hittable fastballs in a six pitch at-bat. Not even a struggling A-Rod could miss three times and he scorched the final meatball into left (a sinking liner almost shoestrung by Luke Scott) to set 'em up 1st-and-3rd, no outs. Pop quiz, Baltimore: do you walk Cano and chance a bases-loaded, no-out situation against the Yankees erratic bottom four? Well, normal baseball logic tells you 'no' of course, but when you consider how insane Cano's been against the bay birds, one is tempted to nibble the edges and live with the walk at the very least. Tillman actually threw some tricky slow curves and 2-seamers at Robby, but the hottest hitter in baseball fought off pitch after pitch before drilling a Baltimore chopper (cruel, cruel irony) over the glove of first baseman Ty Wigginton to knot the score at 2. Posada, who has looks bothered at the plate ever since returning from the DL, followed up with what should have been a double-play, but Julio Lugo suddenly forgot how to throw and the ball sailed into the stands. This error was moot though, as the go-ahead/game-winning run would have scored anyway, but the fact that the Orioles infield continues to make random, unnecessary errors in important moments is something that has hampered them severely in these close games with New York. I really do feel for them, despite the fact that I rip on them for being terrible. Does that make me doubly terrible? Hmmm...

On the flip side of the bump, C.C. Sabathia appeared shaky in the early going, and from what I can tell, the issues were once again mechanical in nature. He was mixing up his pitches fairly well, going to his change-up right from the onset and using it in a variety of counts, although still not as much as he would need to against a better team. His curveball also seemed to be more consistent than in his more recent starts, both in command and bite, although it burned him a couple of times. The fastball, however, was the most problematic pitch. The southpaw has been missing high and wide in the zone with the heater in the last couple of times I've seen him, an indicator that he is dragging his arm through the throwing zone and not following through with his delivery. I pray that this does not mean he's pitching with pain. Either his back is barking and it's hindering his torso action or his legs/groin are twingey and it's hindering his ability to full extend himself to home plate. Or maybe his motion is out of sync for whatever reason and he just needs to do something different in his bullpen sessions. Whatever the case may be, I am inclined to say that it's more of a physical bugaboo than a mental one, which could be worse in the long run.

On a positive note, C.C. bounced back from a rocky three innings to finish with four strong scoreless frames. After allowing a run in the second and third innings on 5 hits, a walk, and a costly wild pitch, the big man allowed just 1 baserunner over next three stanzas. It was if as soon as the rain started falling, he got in a groove. By the time it cleared up totally in the seventh, he was in a jam again, but a diving stopped by Cano on a Nick Markakis grounder prevented the tying run from scoring (was he touched by God this year or something?), and allowed Sabathia to wriggle out of a bases loaded bind. It'll be interesting to see if he can carry this momentum into his next start which is slated to be against Philadelphia right now. His last three outings have come against poor clubs (O's twice and Indians), and while the Phillies have certainly had some offensive droughts of their own this season, it should prove to be more of a challenge than anything he's had to deal with since his sparkling May 18th no-decision at Fenway.

Francisco Cervelli, who has been in a woeful 2-for-20 slump in June entering tonight, added some much-needed breathing room for Joba and Mo in the top of the eighth, slapping a solid shot up the middle with 2-outs to score Brett Gardener, who had been given the day off by Girardi but entered to pinch run. As my colleague "The Cody" astutely pointed out yesterday, Cervelli is showing serious signs of catcher's fatigue at the plate, which is understandable for a guy who has never had to handle an everyday role until this season. His bat has looked sluggish, and it has been screwing up his timing completely. I expect that Moeller will get a start in this upcoming Houston series, and frankly, I'm surprised that Joe is expecting as much as he is from the kid. Let him catch his breath, skip! The kid's never had to work this hard before. Girardi should no that of all people, seeing as he too was a catcher who struggled to produce in the batter's box. Speaking of kids, props to Kevin Russo for dropping a bunt single AND for saving Joba's ass with a stupendous diving catch to lead off the eighth inning. This dude is probably not going to light the world on fire with his hitting, but I like that he's hustling, that he's thinking, and that he's trying to make the little contributions to help the squad however he is able. Joba was his usual 'look-like-crap-in-one-AB-then-look-untouchable-in-the-next' self, but he pitched around a Matt Wieters double and built the bridge successfully. Mo was on the other end to finish the operation in the way that only he can.

Tomorrow A.J. Burnett will look to have a comeback effort after pooping himself in Toronto. Luckily, these birds don't bite, squawk, or do much of anything other than commit foolish errors in key situations. Sorry, Baltimore, but when it's that easy...

GAME MVP: Robinson Cano. Even when he doesn't hit it perfectly, the ball finds away to get a hit for him. Talk about a year. Leads the league in hits and average. Don't overlook the great defensive plays either.

Honorable Mention: C.C. Sabathia, for soaking in the rain droplets and finding himself in the second half of a solid outing

Picking Up Right Where We Left Off

6/8/10 - Camden Yards (Baltimore, MA)
GAME 1: Yankees 12, Orioles 7

Box Score

It is tempting to fantasize about a 2010 season in which the Yankees played the Orioles exclusively, but then again that would be just plain boring. After a hard-fought but disappointing series against the Blue Jays, I'm sure the stripes were comforted on the plane ride from Toronto to Baltimore by the thought of pummeling the birds of the orange feather. And pummel they did in the opening evening of yet another three-game set against O's, unloading for 6 runs on veteran starter Kevin Millwood and 12 runs total. That's almost double the run production they had in their entire three-game stint in Canada. To me, this indicates two things: a) Toronto might actually have the pitching to compete in the AL East even in the later months, and b) Baltimore has no shot whatsoever at doing so.

In case you need one last extra piece of evidence regarding the struggles of the bay birds this spring (now 16-42), one not need look any farther than Millwood himself. Coming into this start, the 14-year northpaw posted a respectable ERA of 3.89...with a record of 0-5????!! I'm sorry, is that a joke? To be maintaining a sub-4.00 ERA in the AL East and not have a single victory is virtually sacriligious. Compare that to Javier Vazquez, the Yanks' worse starter by statistical standards. With a mark of 5.62 runs per nine, he has scrounged together an even tally of 5 wins, 5 losses. No one ever said baseball was a fair game, but if you're K-Mills, you've gotta be feeling just a tick on the frustrated side right about now. Although, I guess it's nothing new for a guy who was the American League ERA-leader in '05, yet garnered a mere 9 wins. That'll happen on teams like the O's and Indians I suppose.

Among the more damaging mistakes made by Millwood in this contest was a fat, first-inning, first-pitch fastball to Nick Swisher that the right fielder sent screaming over the center field wall for a two-run dong. He plated three more in the seventh inning with a bases-loaded double to right-center off bullpenner Matt Albers to put the game (sorta) out of reach. The Swish man is as quick and as locked in as I've ever seen him since coming to the Bronx, and he deserves strong consideration for a spot on the All-Star team this year. In addition to the Swisher cookie, a lazy, poorly-spotted slider to Curtis Granderson in the third frame was lifted towards the gate in right for a two-out grand slam to put New York up 6-0. Grandy also added a sharp line-drive single up the middle off of lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson in the seventh inning, as he continues to improve in areas where he once looked weak (i.e. hitting to all fields and tracking the ball against lefties). With inconsistency plagues their so-called "big bats" (Tex Mex and A-Roid), and average-at-best hitting is pulling up the caboose of the order (I'm sorry, but you can't tell me Cervelli and Gardener--although both are much improved--are reliable producers), the importance of Granderson's bat in these coming weeks and months can't be stressed enough. Although Austin Jackson continues to make Brian Cashman and the Yankees front office look like short-sighted fools, Curtis is slowly but surely redeeming the faith of his GM since returning from injury.

Speaking of redemption, Mark Teixeira earned a small speckle of it in this contest, turning in a 3-4 night at the dish, with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and a seventh-inning launch-job off Albers that makes you wonder why he can't just do that every night. Knowing Tex, he'll be back to looking like he did against the Jays on Saturday, when he struck out 5 times in what my father claimed to be "the worst hitting performance he had ever seen...ever" (and yes, that's a direct quote). Robinson Cano, who's been the unchallenged anchor of the team, sprayed 3 hits in 4 appearances just for kicks and tickles. Hmmm. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that the two dudes who've been taking extra batting practice with hitting coach Kevin Long are shouldering the offensive load for the team...more on this later, perhaps?

Finally, the young, the dashing, the indomitable Phil Hughes snatched his 8th victory of the season tonight, and his second straight against Baltimore. While there's no doubt he didn't have his best stuff, nor his best control in his 6.0 innings of 9-hit, 3-run work, Phil made the pitches that he had to make in order to get out of tough spots. Pitching with a big lead against a rinky-dink lineup helps, sure, but I liked that he battled through mistakes and cruddy calls (he got ripped off twice in the Lou Montanez at-bat in a 2-run, 31 pitch fourth inning) to get the outs he needed. I also liked that he finished on a forceful note, saving his best effort for the last three outs of his outing to get through six stanzas. Endurance and resilience are as much the mark of a great pitcher as anything else, and their best two chuckers (Hughes and Pettitte) have been showcasing that all spring. Gotta love that the oldest and youngest starter in the rotation have been the most trusty arms of the whole batch.

Hopefully the bats take care of business again tomorrow night against a volitatile Chris Tillman, an unripe, second-year call-up who imploded in the second inning facing the Red Sox last Friday. Granted, the kid did churn out a stellar performance against the Jays in his first start of the year, so I guess we'll have to see which Tillman takes the hill. Don't tell me the Yanks are going to have one of those games where they make a mediocre youth look like Greg Maddux. If they do, I'll know who to blame. Chad Gaudin, of course.

GAME MVP: Nick Swisher, because he's a Monster via Power...yeah

Honorable Mention: Curtis Grandslamerson...see what I did there?

PS - Strasburg: best debut ever? Defintely the most impressive I've ever seen in my lifetime. Not because of the 14 K's or the 7 consecutive, or the 99 mile-per-hour fastballs in the seventh inning, or the fact that he never seemed to break so much as a bead of sweat. But because he did it all on 94 pitches and allowed no walks. 14 strikeouts on 94 pitches? I can't even do that in a video game.

A Costly Error, A Really Costly Error, "Crying Shame," and a Crying Apology

By now most everyone who's anyone has seen or heard about Armando Galarraga's perfect game that never was, an incident that might have gone down as a great tragedy of modern baseball had it not been for a touching moment of civil reconciliation between the young Tiger righty and veteran umpire Jim Joyce yesterday afternoon. Shortly after the end of Galarraga's mostly-bitter-not-so-sweet masterpiece, Detroit manager Jim Leyland told the media that what occurred was simply "a crying shame." Well sure enough, Joyce found himself fighting back tears during the presentation of the line-up cards Wednesday afternoon, as Galarraga emerged from the dugout with the Tiger order and shared a tender exchange of apology/absolution with the man who robbed him of baseball perfection. Wow. It's times like these that put the game in perspective for me, while simultaneously reaffirming the reasons why I love the game so much.

I have to be honest with you folks. When I watched the replay of that play on Tuesday night, I was overcome with the distinct urge to vomit. Seriously, it was like watching a child wander obliviously into oncoming traffic or something. Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by too much. In the heat of my agony and fury, I am ashamed to confess that I may have whispered a few silent death wishes against Joyce. Yeah, it's not cool, and I really tried to restrain myself mentally, but people, believe me when I say I haven't been that upset about a sports-related event in a long, long time (the 2004 ALCS might even come second to this, and I nearly cried when Damon hit that grand slam). Luckily, Galarraga was much more composed and mature about the whole situation, both in the immediate aftermath and the day after. I give him infinite props for handling it all so well. Not every ballplayer would have taken such an egregious offense with such grace, but this kid displayed a genuinely impressive amount of compassion and altruism in all of this. For that Mr. Galarraga, I automatically award you the Man of the Year. Hint to TIME magazine: You can start reeling off those cover pictures now.

GAME 1: Orioles 1, Yankees 3
Box Score

Not a particularly exciting game to start the series, but then again you can't really expect any series to be that exciting when the Orioles are involved. After a nice victory to cap off a series win over the last-place (in the AL Central) Indians on Monday, the Yanks followed up with a rather mundane effort against last-place (in the whole major leagues) Baltimore and their southpaw starter Brian Matusz, batting in just 1 earned run in the 6.2 innings he was on the bump. The lack of offense was especially surprising when you consider that Brian had suffered a whopping 16 hits and 13 runs in his previous two outings, and the fact that the pinstripes had piled on 37 runs at the Stadium in the four-game Cleveland series. The sole tally was delivered by none other than Curtis Granderson, who yanked a solo job in the fifth for the first run of the contest. Grandy has responded to the critics in a big way since coming off that injury, as he laced two late-game doubles off Cleveland reliever Tony Sipp in that series before launching his first homer off a lefty on Tuesday. All I can say is, it's about damn time.

Yankee starter Javier Vazquez matched Matusz through six frames, allowing only a solo counterpunch from Corey Patterson (really, Javy? Not Scott, not Wieters, not Tejada, but Patterson?) that leveled the count at 1 a piece in the top of the sixth. Just when it looked like the Yanks would go ahead in the sixth, Thames, Cervelli, and Grandy squandered a 1st-and-3rd no out opporunity. In the subsequent stanza, Vazquez too pitched himself into trouble, but by some miracle of Zeus, skipper Joe Girardi held his ground and allowed Javy to pull himself out of the hole. The hurler rewarded his manager's patience by fanning Adam Jones and inducing an inning ending ground ball off of Julio Lugo's bat to escape a bases-loaded one-out pickle. Granted, Joe probably never would have kept Vazquez on the hill if he weren't facing the disgraceful O's, a team that has mustered a mere 180 runs to date, the lowest total in the bigs. In general, Vazquez has only done well against weaker teams this year, so the real test will be in the third game of the Jays series this coming Sunday, a matchup that should reveal more about whether the sharpness he showed in this game was just a result of the opponent or a real turn in the right direction.

Let's return to this thrilling recap. So now it's the bottom of the seventh, and captain Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher are on base at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. A-Rod is at the plate, and although Matusz had worked a solid game, Dave Trembley opted to go with righty Dave Hernandez against Alex. Flashes of Manny Acta and the Justin Masterson game instantly came to mind, but unlike that game, in which that managerial decision led to a grand slam by Robinson Cano, Tremble's call worked...sort of. It worked in the sense that Hernandez got Rodriguez to swing at a pitcher's pitch and bounce a low fastball to Miguel Tejada at third. The part that didn't work everything after that. Tejada backed up on the ball (mistake #1), then in a panicked haste tried to muscle the throw over to Ty Wigginton at first (mistake #2), causing him to skip it about seven feet short of the target. Wigginton could not come up with the tough pick, the ball deflected towards the wall, Swisher and Jeter came in to score, and the Yanks went on to win game 1 by a final of 3-1. A costly error, to say the least.

GAME MVP: Miguel Tejada, a cheap shot, but I couldn't resist
Honroable Mention: Javier Vazquez, for finally showing signs of confidence and brainpower

And then the heavens opened up and hell froze over...all at once

Yeah, sorry about that Game 2 post. It was too depressing a loss to bother with it again. All you need to know is that C.C. Sabathia was bad and the bullpen was worse. It might have even been the worse loss of the season for the squad, as they plated 11 runs against what is essentially a triple-A team in the Indians and still couldn't hold the lead. Luckily, the bombers redeemed themselves with a big come-back victory yesterday which I will now explore.

But before I do, I have to say that two perfect games in a season is absurd, but two perfect games in the span of a month is unfathomable. Congratulations, Doc. You deserved it. Bradden? You can "suck it."

GAME 3: Indians 3, Yankees 7
Box Score

With two baserunners on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning yesterday afternoon, Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira stepped up to the dish in yet another huge spot. The score was 3-2 Cleveland at that point, as Jeter's two-out, two-run single and Granderson's double off made it a 2nd-and-3rd game-changing situation. Tex had driven in his first run in ten games yesterday after being struck by a pitch with the bases loaded, but the three-hole slugger hadn't done so via a base hit since May 17th. One might say he's been struggling through the first third of 2010, and that's being fairly generous. Now the seventh inning comeback rested on his shoulders. With a bad swing on an 0-1 fastball to push the count to 0-2, it looked like Mark was doomed to fail yet again. However, Indian reliever Tony Sipp let him back into the count by wasting two pitches, and after fouling off a tough 2-2 fastball, Tex unloaded on a hanging slider, sending it deep into the bleachers in left to give the Yanks the lead and eventually the win.

In his post-game interview, Mark claimed that he has had a "good" month of May, even wishing that the next four months would be filled with similar success. Really, Mark? All right, let's have a look. In this month up and through the 30th, he's hit for a .281 BA while recording 6 home runs, 25 RBIs, and 11 multi-hit games, as compared to a .136 BA, 2 homer runs, 9 RBIs, and 1 multi-hit game in April. Statisically speaking, Mark wasn't jesting. He did indeed have a stellar month. But if you look harder, you'll see that from May 9th to May 29th, he had just 2 home runs, that went 10 games without an RBI, and that he had a 6-game stint with just 2 hits. The numbers were there, but the consistency wasn't. And the latter is what this lineup needs out of Mark more than anything.

Why Mark Teixeira is the most valuable sub-.200 hitter in baseball

In yesterday's game against the Chicago White Sox, Yankee's three-hole "slugger" Mark Teixeira bumped his batting average up a whopping 36 percentage points from .153 to .189. He achieved this by going 4-of-5 at the plate, including a 2-run double (just his fifth of 2010) that capped off a 5-run seventh-inning for the pinstripes, shutting the door on the Sox in a 12-3 victory. In his last two games, Tex has increased his average by 39%, his hit total by 55%, and his RBI total by 25%. What a difference a series makes, huh?

Marky T struggled mightily at the start of last season (his debut campaign for the Yanks), and he is struggling even more mightily so far in 2010. At the end of April last year, he had recorded a batting average of exactly .200, an OBP of .367, 3 homers, 10 RBIs, 11 runs scored, 14 hits, and 3 multi-hit games. The consensus in the organization, the fanbase, and the media was that A-Rod's absence was the largest factor in Teixeira's poor start. I had my doubts about this for two reasons: a) he is a notoriously slow starter, especially in April, and b) he had Matsui and Posada behind him in that month. Yes, neither Matsui nor Posada was particularly brilliant, but Tex was definitely getting his share of hitable pitches and was simply failing to deliver...

...much like this season's opening month, only this April, A-Rod has been holding down the clean-up spot in just about every game. So how did Mark's April stat line turn out with Rodriguez hitting behind him? .136 BA, .300 OBP, 2 homers, 9 RBIs, 11 runs scored, 11 hits, and just 1 multi-hit game. Well, so much for the that excuse.

Yet despite all this statistical evidence against him, Tex is still the one of the most valuable players in the majors, even during times like these when his numbers suggest otherwise. On what grounds can I make such a claim about a sub-.200 hitter? First and foremost, you have to look at his defense. In terms of fielding, Teixeira is the best first baseman the Yankees have had since I've started watching the club way back in 1994/5. Yep, that means he's better than Tino and Donny Baseball. His range is exceptional, he makes all his throws with a speedy release and pinpoint accuracy, and he makes difficult scoops, snags, and catches with impressive regularity. Tex is the only starting infielder on the team not to make an error so far this season, and he held the highest fielding percentage of any Yank (excluding the pitchers) last season at .997. That was below only Adam LaRoche and Todd Helton in terms of first baseman who started at least 130 games in 2009.

But beyond the percentages, Tex serves as a kind of calming force in the Yankee infield, a presence that is a definite comfort to pitchers and the rest of the squad. Having him at the bag means that A-Rod, Jeter, and Cano can rush their throw a little more without having to worry as much about the accuracy, because they know the skill of the glove on the receiving end. Pitchers too can be a little more risky with their pitch selection, especially inside to lefties, because they know most balls hit down the line, no matter how hard, have a chance of getting caught. This man has never allowed his brilliant defense to be dragged down by his lack of effectiveness with the bat, and I don't care who you are, that takes a lot of mental fortitude.

Secondly, Teixeira has worked the count on the opposing pitcher more intensely than any Yankee this season, with the possible exception of Nick Swisher. Time and time again, as I've glanced over the Gameday application that tracks pitches, Tex's ABs have jumped out at me, not because of the results, but because of the sheer volume of pitches that this man sees. 8, 9, and 10-pitch ABs are a constant feature of Mark's game, even when the payoff is minimal. He currently ranks 13th in the majors for number of pitches faced, and is far-and-above the leader on the team. If nothing else, Tex consistently gets his walks and has a huge impact on the pitch count of the starting pitcher. A contribution like that cannot go overlooked, although for the most part it does, since it's not a result that shows up in the box score. Does that mean Mark is also missing pitches that he should be driving into the gap instead of fouling to the side? Certainly. However, in this day and age, I dare say many a manager would like to have a guy who makes the pitcher work to get him out, rather than a free-swinger who is as likely to get a hit as he is likely to make an out on the first or second pitch.

The bottom line is that when Mark Teixeira is swinging the bat well, his defense and his approach at the plate are excellent. When Mark Teixeira is swinging the bat horribly, as he has been this past April, his defense and approach at the plate are still excellent. This man does not get impatient or frustrated when in a slump like so many so-called professional athletes do. He does not allow what he does (or doesn't do) at the dish to affect what he does in the field. Mark Teixeira is a smart ballplayer and a professional athlete, and it shows in the way he carries himself and the way he plays the game, even when his statistics don't. That, to me, is the mark (ha! I'm awful) of a great player.