A-Rod goes deep with sixth sense
LET’S not get too about No. 689, OK? Sure, Alex Rodriguez went deep in the second inning Sunday, crushing an 86-mph fastball from Hisashi Iwakuma into the left-field seats on the same day Joe Girardi demoted A-Rod from third to sixth in the lineup. The homer snapped an 0-for-19 skid, just two outs shy of matching the two longest droughts of Rodriguez’s career and gave Masahiro Tanaka a lift in a win the Yankees sorely needed after all their recent offensive stumbles.
But does it change the overall conversation about the Yankees’ 40-year-old designated hitter? No, not yet. He needs a few more blasts like that one before it’s easy to believe he’s fully out of his slump and will again be the lineup force he was for much of last year when he authored a comeback season from his drug suspension that included 33 home runs.
Hey, sluggers with baggage who will be 41 during the season don’t get the benefit of the doubt all the time. Sorry.
Even Rodriguez himself acknowledges his season is “a work in progress.” He made a point of saying “It’s a long year” multiple times after the Yanks’ 4-3 victory over Seattle and there are still 151 games remaining on the pinstriped schedule, so he’s got ample opportunities coming.
But much of how the Yankees’ season goes may depend on Rodriguez. They are counting on him to deliver major offense, even if he was dropped in the order Sunday, and the Yanks currently produce little — they are 4-for-their-last-57 (.070) with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-35 in the series loss to the Mariners.
Maybe that’s why Girardi sometimes strays into testiness when asked about Rodriguez’s funk. It’s happened three days in a row.
At one point Sunday, he replied to a question about whether the homer convinced him A-Rod is past the slump with an absurd chuckle and said: “You know what? I went and saw a shrink and had him analyze what I should analyze and went from there. That’s what I did.”
Girardi did not reveal what this “shrink” might have told him. Here’s a suggestion: “Relax a little, crazy skipper.”
After all, dropping Rodriguez was the right move, even if Girardi wouldn’t commit to keeping Rodriguez sixth. Maybe the demotion eased some self-inflicted pressure on Rodriguez and the calm led to the homer.
A-Rod even brought up that “Joe gave me some good advice — he told me to stop feeling for the baseball and just drive it. I didn’t try to do too much and put a good swing on it.”
But after his two-run homer in the second inning, his second of the season, Rodriguez did not manage a fair ball the rest of the day, striking out twice and fouling out. His 1-for-4 lifted his average to .118 and gave him some optimism, though he started Sunday with the lowest average (.100) in baseball among qualified hitters.
“I thought my rhythm was better all day,” Rodriguez said. “I only got one hit but I felt my swings overall were better, my at-bats were better.” Then the twin mantras: “It’s a work in progress. It’s a long year.”
Rodriguez, who started last season batting in the seventh spot before slugging his way to the three-hole, seemed fine with Sunday’s move after a talk with Girardi. “Whatever Joe wants, I’m here to do,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes you have to do that, shuffle the deck a little bit.”
While one good cut isn’t enough to make you think Rodriguez will be swinging for 700 career homers within a week, it was enough to lighten his mood, at least.
At one point, with reporters, he made a reference to the clubs problems with RISP, an ongoing story line: “I’m just glad Mac (Brian McCann) was at first, not at second” before the homer. Rodriguez paused for effect and finally someone inquired, “Why?”
“No one got that joke?” Rodriguez asked. “Because then he would’ve been in scoring position.”
Then Rodriguez, who loves all things collegiate, quipped, “Where are the Ivy Leaguers here?” t doesn’t take one to figure out that Sunday was a good day for Rodriguez and the Yankees. Did it provide all the answers about A-Rod and the season he’ll have?
No, that’s a work in progress.
I