The Captain's Blog

The struggling Yankees offense needs Mark Teixeira to regain his lefty swing.

After struggling in April, as he does each season, Mark Teixeira seemed to turn the corner as soon as the calendar flipped to May. In the first half of the month, Teixeira posted a line of .333/.406/.649 with 5 HRs and 19 RBIs in 14 games from May 1 to May 15. Since that time, however, the Yankee first baseman has fallen back into a deep slumber, posting a line of .186/.255/.209 over the next 10 games.

The strange thing about Teixeira’s slump is there doesn’t seem to be any identifiable reason for it. Unlike Derek Jeter, whose recent slump was characterized by an increased rate of swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and a corresponding decline in line drive percentage, Teixeira’s swing and contact rates have remained nearly identical to last season. Yet, for some reason, his BABIP has plummeted all the way to .226, which is well below his career rate of .305.

So, is luck the reason for Teixeira’s early season struggles? Although that may be part of the explanation, it does seem as if some other dynamic is at play. What stands out most is Teixeira’s struggles as a left handed batter. Not only is his OPS as a lefty a full 200 points lower than from the right side (.627 vs. 831), but his BABIP from the port side has also declined by a larger percentage compared to last year’s rates (27% from the left side versus 19% from the right side).

Perhaps even more significant, fly balls hit to right field by Teixeira as a lefty are simply not leaving the park. Last year, 47.1% of fly balls pulled to right went for HRs, but this year, that rate has fallen drastically to 25% (his percentage as a righty pull hitter has actually increased from 40% to 50%).  Clearly, Teixeira’s struggles from the left side have led to the depth and duration of his nearly season long slump. But, why has his lefty stroke alluded him for so long?

Continue Reading »

Victories have been few and far between for the Yankees of late, so needing a full day to polish off a win seems strangely appropriate.

Derek Jeter receives congratulations from Brett Gardner after hitting a homerun in the sixth inning. Jeter's HR provided the margin of victory in a 1-0 win (Photo: The Canadian Press).

After playing five scoreless innings on Tuesday night, Derek Jeter belted a deep blast over the centerfield field wall to give the Yankees an immediate 1-0 lead upon resumption of the game. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Jeter’s defense helped preserve the lead when he fielded a ground ball deep in the hole and used his patented jump throw to nab Delmon Young with runners on second and third.

Aside from Jeter, the Yankee bullpen also played a major role in the game. David Robertson not only recorded 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball, but also endured a Joe Mauer line drive off his back that richoted into the glove of Alex Rodriguez for an out. With two outs in the seventh, Robertson eventually gave way to Joba Chamberlain, who also navigated the middle of the Twins lineup in the eighth. The highlight of that inning was a high fastball that Joba blew by Justin Morneau for a strikeout.

In the ninth inning, Mariano Rivera was able to close out the victory for AJ Burnett, who pulled off the rare feat of getting a win on a day in which he didn’t pitch. It wasn’t easy for Mo, however. For the fourth straight outing, Rivera seemed to struggle with his command, and even lowered his head after letting go of a 3-2 cutter that hung in the zone to JJ Hardy. Off the bat, it looked as if Hardy had tied the game, but the ballpark held the blast and Kevin Russo ran it down for an out. Rivera then walked Thome, as he had done in his last blown save, but rebounded to induce a double play from Denard Span.

The strong outings by Robertson and Chamberlain were particularly important to see because the Yankees may be without jack-of-all-trades Alfredo Aceves for an extended period of time. Even if both pitchers round into form, however, the Yankees will still need Mariano to regain  his form if they are going to defend their championship. In addition, the Yankees need bats like Teixeira, Cano and Swisher to awaken because the Yankees pitchers have been showing signs of cracking under the relative lack of support.

The Yankees send Andy Pettitte to the mound in the “second” game of the day, but probably can’t expect to win another low scoring affair. They will not only need Pettitte to give them length, especially with Robertson likely unavailable for the evening, but the lineup needs to take advantage of its scoring opportunities and jump out to an early lead.

Seasons can turn on a dime in baseball, so two road victories against a quality team like the Twins could go a long way toward snapping the Yankees out of their funk. The likes of Morneau and Mauer stand in that way, however, so a “twin killing” won’t come easy

Last night, Minnesota Twins fans experienced their the first in-game rain delay since September 26, 1981, when a 48 minute hiatus interrupted a contest against the Texas Rangers. It was also the first delay of any kind at a Twins’ home game since August 29, 1992, when a lighting problem caused play to be halted for 29 minutes. Interestingly, the Yankees were the opponent on that night as well. Although play eventually resumed that night, yesterday’s interruption resulted in a suspended game, which will be played to completion at 5:05PM today. The game will resume in the top of the sixth inning with the score tied at 0-0.

Over the first five innings of yesterday’s game, the Yankees offense showed no signs of breaking out if its slump, so maybe the rain was a blessing in disguise. After a good night’s rest and some fresh air, maybe some of those sleeping bats will come awake. In the meantime, for those down in the dumps about the Yankees recent malaise, here is a look at the Yankee lineup from that game back in 1992. Remember, things could always be worse!

Tonight, the Yankees make their first trip to Target Field, the Minnesota Twins’ brand new ballpark and the latest in baseball’s building renaissance. The inaugural visit by the Yankees marks the first time the Bronx Bombers have played in a new American League ballpark, other than their own, in ten years. In the past, the Yankees haven’t always been the most gracious visitors on their initial trip to an opponent’s new digs.  In their first games played at the remaining 12 American League parks, the Yankees have an 8-4 record.

On Saturday, May 8, the Yankees were flying high after routing the Boston Red Sox 14-3 at Fenway Park. The resounding victory pushed the Yankees’ record to 21-8 and moved the team to within one-half game of the Rays. Since then, however, the Yankees have been in a free fall, compiling the league’s worst record over the last 15 games at 5-10. Making matters worse, the Rays (10-5) and Red Sox (10-5) share the league’s top record over the same time period. As a result, the Yankees now stand 5 ½ games from first place and only two games ahead of fourth place.

Over the course of the day, we’ll take a look at the reasons why the Yankees have struggled so mightily. This installment begins that process by examining the offense.

Offensive Statistics From May 9 to May 23
(Sorted by Usual Spot in the Lineup, excludes pitchers)

Injuries have obviously played a role in the Yankees demise. On offense, the collective impact of losing Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Jorge Posada has taken a toll, which was further compounded by more short-term injuries to Nick Swisher and Marcus Thames. However, injuries alone do not explain the team’s poor record over the last two weeks. After all, the Yankees should have enough star power to at least partly compensate for even three key losses, especially when you consider that two replacements, Marcus Thames and Juan Miranda, have combined for a line of .265/.419/.530 in 62 PAs.

Over the last 15 games, the Yankees real problem has not been who wasn’t in the lineup, but rather the poor performance of the remaining all stars who have been playing. In particular, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira have really struggled; Jeter for the entire month and Teixeira since hitting three home runs against Boston on May 8.

Jeter’s anemic line of .224/.278/.269 over the last 15 games has been particularly concerning because of how poorly he has looked at the plate. In addition to swinging at an inordinate number of pitches out of the strike zone (32.3%), Jeter has also posted an alarming groundball rate (4.1:1), which has come at the expense of the number of line drives (16.4%). Continue Reading »