July was an unusual month for the Yankees. They surprised the pundits by bringing in Ichiro Suzuki who looked likely to spend the whole of his American Major League career with Seattle and designated Dewayne Wise, who had become a fan favourite following a remarkable June. They persisted with Russell Martin and saw Alex Rodriguez head for the disabled list. But who were the solid bats behind a creditable month. Let’s see:

Good

Derek Jeter. Jeter had a great month in July after slowing down following on from a great start to the season. Leading the team with a .346 batting average on the month, he also had more doubles than anyone else on the roster during a month when the Yankees needed some big bats.

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod finally looked worth a significant portion of the money that the Yankees pay him with a .315 average although a large part of his slugging seems to be gone forever. Just as he hit his stride, he suffered an injury which is likely to keep him out until September.

Robinson Cano. 10 extra base hits was worth second on the team to Cano and the .314 batting average shows him to be the most consistent player in the Yankee pinstripes.

Mark Teixeira. Teixeira’s slow starts to the season seem to get more prolonged every year and it was July before he truly delivered what New York expect. On the month, he led in RBIs, homers, sacrifice flies, slugging and on-base percentage. A vintage month for Teixeira.

Bad

Darnell McDonald. McDonald was signed to give the Yankees extra depth in the outfield. That idea was scrapped after a few days. He only had 4 at bats and was designated for assignment before he achieved his first hit for the Bronx Bombers.

Russell Martin. Martin is solid enough to challenge Cano for the “Mr Consistency” title. Always more than competent behind the plate and every month this year has seen him consistently struggle with the bat. He hasn’t had an offbeat month, he just has never looked like gathering hits all season. Month by month we are left considering why, oh why, did Mr Cashman compare him to Thurman Munson?

Andruw Jones. Jones has more power than most but he struggled mightily to hit for average in July. He closed the month at .218 with only two walks.

Nick Swisher. There’s no point in pretending that we are surprised when Swish goes into a slump and there was another one due any moment and it came right on schedule.

Surprises

Chris Stewart. We really need a catcher who can achieve some hits and so far this season, Stewart has been the only one in sight. But then July came along and whilst he still remained ahead of Martin, it was not a great month for Chris either.

Curtis Granderson. Granderson’s strikeout column continues to swell. He struck out 36 times in 94 at-bats in July.

Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro only .258 with 3 stolen bases but he brings to the Yankees the ability to get on base every single night. He had been a great servant for Seattle and they gained themselves credit for letting him have the chance to play on a winner and his humility shone as the demands that the Yankees made of him became public. For now this all-star rightfielder is our everyday leftfielder – and that is surprising.

Ramiro Pena. Pena had a very brief stint back in the majors when A-Rod was injured and he did okay. What was surprising was how much Eduardo Nunez’s stock has fallen that Pena was the obvious and only choice for promotion.