The Yankees form slid a little in May. In April, they had been 16-10, May was 15-13. They also surrendered first place and dropped to second in the table. Let’s see who was bucking the trend and who was failing to keep their end up:
| New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | G | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SH | SF | SB | BA | SLG | OBP | ||||||||||||||||||
| Boesch, Brennan | 8 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .438 | .688 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gonzalez, Alberto | 3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner, Brett | 28 | 102 | 15 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .275 | .441 | .339 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nix, Jayson | 24 | 78 | 8 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .269 | .333 | .352 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cano, Robinson | 28 | 109 | 10 | 28 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 | .477 | .319 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Overbay, Lyle | 27 | 95 | 10 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .253 | .474 | .308 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youkilis, Kevin | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Granderson, Curtis | 8 | 28 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .393 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Suzuki, Ichiro | 25 | 89 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .247 | .360 | .272 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Adams, David | 15 | 54 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .241 | .407 | .268 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stewart, Chris | 20 | 50 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .240 | .360 | .286 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nelson, Chris | 10 | 36 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .222 | .278 | .243 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wells, Vernon | 27 | 104 | 11 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .221 | .365 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nunez, Eduardo | 4 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .455 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hafner, Travis | 21 | 67 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .179 | .299 | .286 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Joseph, Corban | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .333 | .286 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Francisco, Ben | 8 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .133 | .333 | .235 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Romine, Austin | 14 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .111 | .167 | .111 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brignac, Reid | 5 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .059 | .059 | .059 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hughes, Phil | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kuroda, Hiroki | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teixeira, Mark | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Phelps, David | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sabathia, CC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 939 | 102 | 219 | 98 | 39 | 7 | 27 | 65 | 224 | 4 | 5 | 21 | .233 | .376 | .286 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Good
Brett Gardner. Gardner’s season so far hasn’t been outstanding but it has been solid which separates it from the season of many of those who have been brought in to cover the gaps in a starting line-up depleted by injuries. With 10 extra base hits and seven stolen bases, he stood ahead of most whose May figures were a poor attempt at keeping up with the pace the team had come out of the starting gate with.
Jayson Nix. Nix is the model of a player who was signed for a part-time role who is doing well with adjustment to playing most days. Playing 24 out of 28 games, he is still never going to be Derek Jeter but his figures in May made us miss the Captain a little less.
Robinson Cano. Leading the team in RBI, home runs and slugging percentage, Cano continues to be a leader for the Yankees at a time when they are missing so many of their senior figures. This will give extra weight to his attempt to gain a substantial increase in the dollar figure attached to his new contract at season’s end.
Lyle Overbay. Overbay is another player who was brought into cover the opening weeks whose contribution is exceeding expectations. Teixeira becoming fit has taken an awful longer than advertised and Overbay leading the team in extra base hits during May made that an awful lot easier to swallow.
Bad
Eduardo Nunez. The Yankees haven’t stuck with Nunez for his defensive skills so seeing him with a .182 batting average prior to spending most of the month on the disabled list and taking much longer to recuperate from a seemingly minor injury has proved difficult for fans and coaches alike.
Travis Hafner. Hafner is another who only brings offensive contributions to the club so his .179 in 21 games in May is fairly dreadful.
Ben Francisco. Francisco has done okay defensively but of the opening day roster he is the one who has struggled most consistently at the plate. His 15 plate appearances in May produced a .133 batting average.
Reid Brignac. But if Francisco was struggling there was always Brignac to make him look like a tower of strength. Brignac replaced Alberto Gonzalez because the team saw him as a more promising option. After 1 hit in 17 at bats, the Yankees would be glad to ask Gonzalez to come back.
Surprising
Curtis Granderson. Grandy finally made it back from injury, played in 8 games with a .250 average and then got plunked again and was back on the disabled list.
Ichiro Suzuki. The Yankees were expecting much from Ichiro than they have seen through May. His .247 average on the month means that the two year contract they gave him has gone from being a safe bet to a bit of a gamble – who saw that coming?
Vernon Wells. Wells had a great April – to everybody’s surprise. And then it all came unravelled in May – are we surprised?
Austin Romine. For two years, everything has suggested that Romine was defensively ready for the majors but lacked the ability to hit. 36 at bats in May and 4 hits. We were ready for him not to hit but not to be this far off the pace.
