TORONTO – It has been documented how much Alex Rodriguez has meant to the Yankees at the box office and how smart a business move his acquisition was for George Steinbrenner. Now, it’s time for A-Rod to start producing in the clutch.
Throughout most of his first season in pinstripes, A-Rod has struggled hitting with runners in scoring position. However, the cleanup hitter’s current funk is alarming.
Going into last night’s game against the Blue Jays at SkyDome, A-Rod was in a 4-for-27 (.148) slide with runners in scoring position and hitting a paltry .200 (23-for-115) for the year under those circumstances.
That’s a drop of 117 points from the .317 (142-for-448) A-Rod hit with runners in scoring position the previous three years. It’s 76 points below his .276 (40-for-145) last year and 166 below the .366 (56-for-153) he batted two seasons ago. And 113 notches below his career mark of .313.
Just when it didn’t appear it could get worse for A-Rod, it did Wednesday night during a 4-3 loss to the Indians at Jacobs Field. Not only did he go 0-for-3 in the clutch, but he also vacuumed the life out of a seventh-inning rally by hitting into a 4-6-3 double play with runners on first and second, no outs after the Yankees had scored two unearned runs.
“It’s tough to put a finger on it. I don’t know if there are words for it,” said A-Rod, who was batting .281 overall with 30 homers and 73 RBIs. “I feel pretty good and I feel like I am getting good pitches to hit, but it’s one of those things where the hits haven’t been coming in the [right] situations.”
When will they come? Is A-Rod, who arrived in The Bronx known as the Best All Around Player in baseball another October question mark for the Yankees? Not according to him.
“I am putting the ball in play more consistently and I am swinging at more strikes,” A-Rod explained. “But the results with men in scoring position haven’t been good and they have to get better. They will get better.”
How does a career .313 hitter in the clutch bat .200 for almost five months?
Joe Torre believes that A-Rod, who spends a lot of time in the cage with hitting coach Don Mattingly doing flip drills and hitting off a tee before watching video tape of his swings could be over-preparing. It’s a concept A-Rod doesn’t argue with.
“Any time I have had any type of struggle in my career I have always gotten out of it with hard work,” A-Rod said. “But sometimes Joe is right. Sometimes I have overly prepared, [so] that I become a bit analytical at times and become a judge of my own game instead of going out and play[ing] and let my natural abilities take over. But the most frustrating thing is that I do feel pretty good and the results are not coming … I could tone it down a bit and let the game come to [me] a little more rather than forcing things.”
Naturally, Torre professes confidence in A-Rod and has refused to drop him out of the cleanup spot.
“He is pressing and is very talented but that doesn’t keep him from being human. He expects a lot out of himself and right now it’s not working,” Torre said. “We believe in him and look forward to him coming up with men on base.”
Asked if all it would take was one hit to get him going, A-Rod got greedy.
“One is a good start,” A-Rod said. “Ten would be real nice.”
