Brett Gardner is very good defensively, he's got a ton of speed, and he's an on-base pct. guy. So far with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre he's hitting .291 with 3 HR and 21 RBI, he's also stolen 14 bases and has an OBP of .395.I know he's a lefty, and that's not really what the Yankees need right now, but he has hit lefties well this year hitting .375 in 48 ABs.
With Alex Rodriguez back, Morgan Ensberg becomes expendable. Shelley Duncan has also done nothing since being called up from Scranton a few weeks ago and could be sent down without anybody missing him. The Yanks should call up the speedy Gardner and dump one of these two.
As for playing time, he can play instead of Bobby Abreu when the Yankees face lefties, he can give Melky Cabrera some time to think about his .180 May batting average on other days, and he could also give Johnny Damon a day off here and there. Damon is also struggling, hitting just .210 in May, and has looked like a fool in left on several occasions. And when he doesn't start Gardner can be used as a pinch runner late in games.
This team is in need of a spark, and Gardner might be the perfect guy to provide it.
4 Comments:
i hear ya greg....these are the kind of guys the yankees need...people who can get on base and make things happen....no more of that station to station play...we need guys who give opposing pitchers something else to worry about while pitching...if a giambi or matsui get on, for example, pitchers can just focus on the batter and not really worry about them....if a gardner were to get on, pitchers would have to worry about him, and would be more susceptible to make a mistake...you need guys who can make things happen, especially when a team is struggling to get hits and drive in runs...speed never slumps...
He's young, fast, has tons of enthusiasm and can make things happen! In other words, not a true Yankee (2008 edition).
:P
That's my point, he's the type of player this Yankees team is lacking, and all good teams need to be complete teams. Right now these Yankees are not.
Yes it is. I love Gardner and thought he should have made the team out of spring training.
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