Zachary GirsbergerA Bittersweet Injury
October 20th 2010 19:34
Category: No Category
The injury to Mark Teixiera's hamstring may have put the final nail in the coffin for the New York Yankees. Tex has played a brilliant first base (advanced sabermetrics ignored, after Giambi a dead fish looks above-average) the past two years for the Yankees and has been a producer offensively with the team lead in Home Runs and a leader in RBI. There is no doubt the Yankees will miss their first baseman, I am not saying they will not, but the injury does have some upside--the further development of Robinson Cano.
Cano this year has played at an MVP level all season, ranking high in many offensive categories and leading second baseman in most. Unfortunately, Cano plays on a team with a former player who respects veteran egos, so he has not batted where he should have most of the year--the three-hole. Cano has been relegated (and I use that word lightly here) to the five-hole, behind A-Rod, with relatively little consistent protection behind him. Even with this fact, Cano has played out of his mind. With the injury to Tex, Cano gets his chance to prove his worthiness of the move upward in the batting lineup, and hopefully he will produce. Some doubters may point to his lack of experiance batting up in the order, but when playing in the cleanup spot while A-Rod was injured this year, Cano produced his best numbers.
The way batting lineups are structured, it makes logical sense to have Cano higher up, because he slugs well, hits for a high average, and has not faced his historical slump with runners-in-scoring position, rather he has excelled. I have no doubts that the move of Cano will produce more hits from the three-hole (not too hard considering Tex was oh-fer) and could provide the spark the Yankees need to mount a rally against the Rangers. The only remaining question is whether or not the move has come in time to save the season.
Cano this year has played at an MVP level all season, ranking high in many offensive categories and leading second baseman in most. Unfortunately, Cano plays on a team with a former player who respects veteran egos, so he has not batted where he should have most of the year--the three-hole. Cano has been relegated (and I use that word lightly here) to the five-hole, behind A-Rod, with relatively little consistent protection behind him. Even with this fact, Cano has played out of his mind. With the injury to Tex, Cano gets his chance to prove his worthiness of the move upward in the batting lineup, and hopefully he will produce. Some doubters may point to his lack of experiance batting up in the order, but when playing in the cleanup spot while A-Rod was injured this year, Cano produced his best numbers.
The way batting lineups are structured, it makes logical sense to have Cano higher up, because he slugs well, hits for a high average, and has not faced his historical slump with runners-in-scoring position, rather he has excelled. I have no doubts that the move of Cano will produce more hits from the three-hole (not too hard considering Tex was oh-fer) and could provide the spark the Yankees need to mount a rally against the Rangers. The only remaining question is whether or not the move has come in time to save the season.
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