The post-season and the end of the season were a grim time for New York Yankees fans. First of all some dubious decisions from Joe Girardi saw us blow the American League East title and left us qualifying by Spring Training and then a great series against Minnesota in the ALDS (3-0) was eclipsed by a 4 games to 2 defeat against Texas in the American League Championship Series. Here’s how the batters performed over the last few games of the regular season and those two contrasting post-season series:
| New York Yankees – Batting – Month – October & Post-Season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SH | SF | SB | BA | SLG | OBP | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cano, Robinson | 47 | 10 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .404 | .830 | .451 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cervelli, Francisco | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .400 | .600 | .429 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Granderson, Curtis | 37 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .297 | .541 | .460 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Berkman, Lance | 17 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .294 | .647 | .435 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Jeter, Derek | 50 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .280 | .380 | .321 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Rodriguez, Alex | 46 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .217 | .261 | .315 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Posada, Jorge | 38 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .211 | .263 | .286 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner, Brett | 40 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 7 | .200 | .225 | .298 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Swisher, Nick | 43 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .186 | .488 | .271 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Thames, Marcus | 28 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .179 | .286 | .233 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Teixeira, Mark | 41 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .146 | .268 | .271 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pena, Ramiro | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .143 | .143 | .143 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Kearns, Austin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nunez, Eduardo | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .250 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Miranda, Juan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 407 | 52 | 97 | 48 | 21 | 5 | 12 | 53 | 105 | 3 | 5 | 15 | .238 | .403 | .328 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Good
Robinson Cano. Robinson Cano had an outstanding season in 2010 and whilst other heads went down towards the end of the Texas series, Cano never gave up. His .583 BA over and his .667 OBP over the last games of the regular season led all everyday players over this period and his work in the field was, once more, outstanding.
Derek Jeter. Jeter, in 2010, wasn’t the player we are used to seeing in the pinstripes but he gave no quarter in these last days of a semi-successful season. Only Cano and Jeter really showed up with their regular bats for the post-season and it was all the more impressive considering Jeter’s struggles throughout the regular season.
Francisco Cervelli. It is a shame that Cervelli won’t enter Spring Training as the acknowledged and expected second choice catcher. With Posada expected to stand down from catching duties, and with Russell Martin coming in, the time was ripe to let Jesus Montero have one more season to mature his defensive skills and allow Cervelli to show whether his quality spotting of Posada in the post-season and October was a sign that he has what it takes to be a major league backup.
Bad
Austin Kearns. All the signs are that Kearns never wanted to be in New York. He had a good couple of weeks when he first arrived but then the shine wore off and he was content to be inept, to lack concentration and show a total lack of passion.
Curtis Granderson. The last weeks of September were amongst the best for Granderson during his first season in pinstripes. There are those who aren’t persuaded he should get a second season in Pinstripes and his poor performance in the post-season can only had to those numbers.
Jorge Posada. Posada creaked into the final month and it is evident for all to see that his days are a major league catcher are at an end and the question is whether the move to Designated Hitter will give him the concentration to regain his batting chops or be a sad end to an illustrious career. The jury is out.
Surprises
Eduardo Nunez. One of the surprises was that the young guns could not continue their season-long performance in the last few weeks. Nunez was one of those who allowed the prospect of the post-season to rattle him. What this says about his temperament in the long term is anyone’s guess. Especially in the oven that is New York.
Juan Miranda. Miranda was once again a late-season call up but where he had performed in the last two years in that role, this year it was one too many. If nothing else, it was clear that whatever had been decided by the organisation, Joe Girardi had concluded that Miranda is not one for the future and no real opportunities were put his way.
Alex Rodriguez. After a stellar post-season in 2009, Rodriguez returned to type in 2010. Whether he has the determination to overcome this tendency once more, as he career advances in years, is once, again, something only the future will reveal.
twilightdawning 