Ensberg Credits Long for His Hot Spring

From Ken Davidoff, via WasWatching.com:

Morgan Ensberg, trying to stick with the Yankees, could be another option for the Dodgers; he can ask for his release if the Yankees do not add him to their 40-man roster on Friday.

The Yankees, by placing Ensberg on their 40-man list, would guarantee his $1.75 million contract, increasing his chances of making the club.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, who helped revitalize Alex Rodriguez last season, also is making a difference for Ensberg, who is batting .313 with five doubles in 32 at-bats this spring.

"It's shocking," Ensberg says. "Everything he does is so simple. He gets rid of all of your excess motions, gets you down to a good foundation.

"I used to be a guy with eight different stances and eight different hand positions. Now I'm down to one. And it took only one session, one 15-minute deal in the batting cage.

"This is the most consistent 3-4 weeks of an approach I've had in my life."

Ensberg, 32, hit 36 homers for the Astros in 2005, but declined to 23 and 12 the past two seasons.

First, I have to admit that I was not a very big fan of Kevin Long last season. When the entire left-hand side of the batting order was slumping and the Yankees were losing, I put a lot of the blame on him. I admit I was wrong, and this is just more evidence of that. So are the league leading 968 runs and .290 batting avg. the Yankees racked up last year.

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It will be very interesting to see what the Yankees do with Ensberg. Shelley Duncan is already the right-handed power bat on the bench, do they really need another?

I said a few days ago that I thought Brett Gardner and Chris Woodward had earned spots on the roster, and I still do, though, Woodward’s hamstring injury may have killed whatever chance he may have had. You can also make a case for Cody Ransom, who has also had a good spring, and impressed Joe Girardi. But in all likelihood it will be Wilson Betemit who makes the team over Woodward and Ransom, even though he’s only hitting .198 this spring, and been outplayed by both.

So that leaves one spot for either Gardner, who Girardi seems to like a lot, or Ensberg. The argument can be made that Gardner would just be wasted on the bench, but I don't agree with that, and think that he will play a lot more than people think he would. And a player with his kind of speed will help the Yankees more than another power-hitter like Ensberg.

The decision will come down to what Girardi feels the Yankees need more, speed or power.