Sunday, August 3, 2008

Moose to the rescue

The Yankees needed a big start out of Mike Mussina yesterday and he delivered. Everyone has pretty much realized by now that Mussina has been the Yankees MVP this season and it isn't had to imagine how far back they would be if he was pitching like it was 2007 rather than 2006.

The bats finally made some progress at the plate by roughing up Jered Weaver for four long balls. Even Jose Molina got in on the action, giving Pudge Rodriguez a lesson on how to swing the stick.

One little problem with the Yankees lineup though, is how the substandard performance of Derek Jeter continues to fester and nobody wants to bring it up. Jeter has done more for the Yankees franchise than any other player on the roster but this season he has been a disappointment for him and few people seem to want to acknowledge that.

Now I have always been a big Jeter fan. Ever since his rookie season he has been one of my favorite players and like most fans I would give him a free pass for an slips in play as the years moved on because he had always been there before and he had always taken care of business. But last year he grounded into a career high 21 double plays plus three more in four games against the Indians. This year he is fast approaching that number with 17 DPs already and this season his batting average has slipped to the point where the DPs are becoming a noticeable problem. His stolen bases and OPS have also taken prominent dives this year.

Now every player can have a down year and hopefully with Jeter that's all that this is. But it is very possible that this could be the end for Jeter. 34 is pretty old for a short stop and if the Yanks want to make a run over these last 52 games they need some stellar play from their short stop and Jeter needs to step up and be the Captain.

2 comments:

Dennis said...

Couldn't he benefit from some rest? I would say DH him a couple times a week, but they already have 4 DH's. You could play him at 1B a few days a week, but you already have 3 or 4 of those as well. And that still leaves the question of who plays SS while he is out. Even if he gets through this season without hurting them, it is pretty clear he is on the decline. Is a Cal Ripken situation developing?

Peter said...

That's what I'm worried could happen, and unlike Ripken his bat doesn't play well at the hot corner(not to mention Arod isn't ready to give up position number two to him yet) or in either corner outfield spot.

It's all pointless to discuss anyway because he isn't moving out of short until the end of his contract after 2010.