So the likelihood of the New York Yankees reaching the post-season gets slimmer and slimmer. August wasn’t the month of finally finding their way that Mr. Girardi had hoped for but it was a month with some bright spots and some hope for the future

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – August

Name                   AB  R  H  RBI 2B  3B HR BB SO SH SF SB  BA   SLG   

Ransom, Cody            5  3  3   5   1  0  2  1  1  0  0  0  .600 2.000 

Jeter, Derek          113 12 39  11   1  0  2  7 21  2  2  3  .345 .407 

Abreu, Bobby          114 16 39  10   6  0  1 12 19  0  0  2  .342 .421 

Gardner, Brett         15  1  5   2   1  1  0  1  2  0  0  2  .333 .533 

Nady, Xavier          107  9 33  19   5  0  6  5 28  0  0  0  .308 .523 

Damon, Johnny         115 22 35  11   2  1  4 14 22  0  0  9  .304 .443 

Betemit, Wilson        34  4 10   5   1  0  1  1  9  0  0  0  .294 .412 

Cano, Robinson        100 14 29  10   3  2  4  7 18  0  0  0  .290 .480 

Rodriguez, Alex       103 23 25  16   8  0  6 13 30  0  1  1  .243 .495 

Giambi, Jason          82  9 19  22   0  0  8 10 25  0  3  0  .232 .524 

Molina, Jose           45  8 10   4   2  0  2  1  7  1  0  0  .222 .400 

Christian, Justin      15  2  3   1   1  0  0  0  3  0  0  2  .200 .267 

Rodriguez, Ivan        56  6  11  2   1  0  2  3  9  0  0  1  .196 .321 

Matsui, Hideki         43  4  8   6   2  0  2  5  6  0  0  0  .186 .372 

Sexson, Richie         13  1  2   4   1  0  1  2  5  0  0  0  .154 .462 

Cabrera, Melky         26  1  3   1   0  0  0  0  3  0  0  1  .115 .115 

Pluses

Bobby Abreu. Abreu has been our most consistent hitter and outfielder and that continued in August. Hitting .342 on the month, he is not hitting for power but he is a singles-and-doubles hitter par excellence and is lively on the bases.

Derek Jeter. Jeter had to have a good month at some point and August seems to have been it. He has never been awful but has never lived up to his performance of previous years. Again, the power wasn’t there but .345 on the month is more like it.

Xavier Nady. Nady hasn’t slowed since he came to the Bronx and this month he hit .308 and was second in homers. He looks a key part of the outfield for 2009.

Minuses

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has been consistently good if not great so far this year but the second half of August was a real let-down. Again and again, he would be in a clutch hitting spot with runners on base and again and again, particularly in late innings, he would come up with nothing. This meant hearty booing from the bleachers which livened up some dreary defeats but, like A-Rod, really achieved nothing.

Melky Cabrera. And the cupboard was bare….. Melky is back in the Bronx in September but doesn’t look likely to feature much. It has been an awful year for this guy.

Ivan Rodriguez. Sharing the catching equally with Jose Molina (and hitting less than him) and batting .196 on the month with no power to speak of, it has been a bad trade which saw Farnsworth go to Detroit for this guy whose glory days are behind him.

Surprises

Brett Gardner. Gardner has finally begun to hit for average as well as being a base-running threat. Best month of a limited season.

Cody Ransom. We all smiled when Ransom had two-at-bats and two home runs. It had to end but he has acquitted himself very well in his very limited role.

Wilson Betemit. Betemit has continued to impress me with his commitment and hitting / fielding off the bench. He has become a very serviceable player in the second half of the season.