Somewhat lost in the Bobby Abreu/Robinson Cano debacle of late has been the performance of Alex Rodriguez. While A-Rod’s stats overall — .329/.407/.714 with 15 HR and 39 RBI — are still exception, his season has been some of a Jekyll and Hyde performance so far.
Through the first 18 games of the year, Alex Rodriguez had 75 at bats and was an absolute beast. He hit .400 with a .453 OBP and a whopping 1.053 slugging percentage. As we all know, he had 14 home runs, 7 doubles and 34 RBIs. He was hitting home runs at a pace of one every 5.36 at bats.
But in the 18 games since then, a different Alex Rodriguez has emerged. In 65 at bats, Alex has hit .246 with a pedestrian .355 OBP and a pathetic .323 slugging percentage. He has 3 extra base hits — 1 home run, 2 doubles — and just 5 RBI in this stretch of games. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 1 HR every 65 at bats.
So what’s the real Alex Rodriguez? For all of his recent struggles, A-Rod is still on pace for 68 HR and 176 RBI. If he can rediscover his power stroke soon, things will be looking up for A-Rod. He just missed in Seattle, driving two balls to the wall in the deepest parts of a vast outfield. Are we about to see another HR tear from A-Rod? It couldn’t come at a better time.
I know that these guys are rooting for April Alex to return and carry the Yankees through to the end of May. I fear that if his stroke doesn’t come back, the Yankee boo birds may return, making this summer a long one from Alex as that opt-out clause comes do.
It’s never a dull moment around these Yankees, eh?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.