When the Yankees inked Marcus Thames to a minor league contract, they believed his ability to hit lefties would enable him to make the club and play left field against southpaws. Nothing has changed, even if Thames is batting .120 (3-for-25) and leading the team with nine strikeouts.
"He has had good at-bats," manager Joe Girardi said "I don't get caught up in the numbers. It's a small sample."
King goes on to say that Thames "likely will make the club no matter how low his average dips." His numbers can't dip much further, he's now hitting .107/.107/.167 with a grand total of zero RBIs this spring, and has struck out 11 times.
Based on what his manager and coaches are saying about him, King might not be so off.
“He hasn’t had any luck whatsoever,” Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long said....In Tampa, both Long and manager Joe Girardi say they’ve been pleased with Thames, despite the strikeouts and lack of hits. But the manager wants to see production during the final 10 days of camp.
Long may have a point, results are not the only thing that matters in the spring. If a player is taking good swings and making good contact, hits will eventually start to fall, and that's what Long is talking about when he talks about luck. Maybe if Jamie Hoffmann was doing anything I might complain about this, but he's not so I won't. I like what Hoffmann can do defensively, but so far this spring he's hitting just .130/.174/.259, and also hasn't driven in a run. At least Thames should provide the Yankees with a little bit of pop off the bench.
