Here's more from Kat O'Brien:
Cano looked very trim for all of you concerned about him after a poor 2008. He said he's at about 208 pounds right now after playing last year at 213. He may have wound up at 213 last year but I would guess he began a good bit heavier. Anyway, he looks slim and said he's been working hard. Playing winter ball helped him, as did having Kevin Long down for a week to work on his hitting stance. He's also excited about playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.As other blogs have correctly pointed out, it doesn't matter what kind of shape he's in now, what matters is going out of the field and performing. All we heard last year during and after spring training was the great shape everyone was in heading into the season. About eight injuries later and several very poor starts, that was a distant memory.
“I’ve just been working on my new stance,” Cano said, “just getting ready mentally and physically. … I know that I have to start in April, not in May or June.”
For the Yankees sake, they really need Cano to bounce back. Jeter, Posada and Pettitte are all getting near the back end of their careers and the Yankees really have nobody to be that 'homegrown face of the franchise. They really need Cano and Joba to take over that role. As much as i'd like to believe it, you can't keep filling EVERY position with free agent all-stars.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, Cano is a huge part of the Yankees future.
ReplyDeleteI'm confident that he will be OK. Even last year, while he was inconsistent, he really only had one bad month. It was just really really bad.
Greg, he had an awful year period. That one 'really bad' month does not make it okay to have 5 'bad' months.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteGo look at his splits and tell me how he had five "bad" months.
Okay pal, keep telling yourself that. He never got into a groove for more than a week. I don't need to look at his actual stats but to know he was inconsistent the entire year, and hurt them more than he helped.
ReplyDeleteI already said that he was inconsistent, so I agree with you about not getting into a groove. But at the end of the day his numbers from May-September were not that bad.
ReplyDeleteHe batted .295, .287, .327, .290 and .287 respectively in May-Sep so to say he had 5 bad months is not logical. He also batted .307 after the break. He didn't have that bad of a year outside of April, but it is still sub-par for Cano. Cano has a world of talent, he just needs to live up to it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would do if I was Girardi is see how Cano starts out the year, and then look to move him up in the order. If he hits around .300 the first month or two, I think he should move him to the third spot in the order. He isn't your typical #3 hitter, but he has the potential to hit enough there. Plus if he hits third with A-Rod and Teix behind him, he would see a ton more pitches to hit. I think he would max out his potential in the three spot, that is if he can show something in the first couple months.
I'm hoping for a year close to 2007, hopefully somewhere around .305, 20 HR, 100 RBI
Cano’s batting success will depend on his ability to handle outside pitches on and slightly off the plate. If I have one image of Cano batting last season, it’s him flipping his bat in disgust after hitting a weak pop up to the left side of the infield. If he can drive those pitches through the 5.5 hole, as he did in 2006/2007, then he should return to or improve on his 2006/2007 offensive performances. Closing his stance and reducing extraneous movement in the batter’s box–as encouraged by Kevin Long–seems the correct fix. Barring injury, I expect a big offensive big year from Cano, unless he always bats with the bases loaded ;-)
ReplyDeleteall hes gotta do is learn to be patient. stop swinging at every single pitch, a walk is as good as a hit, take them when giving the opportunity, which he will have to earn because pitchers are not intimidated by him, they will go right after him
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