Yanks need productive ARod this October

The Yankees go as ARod goes in October

Now that the Yankees have clinched the AL East, it’s time to think about the post-season.  One of the biggest unknowns is Alex Rodriguez.  Is he healthy?  Is he still capable of being the dangerous cleanup hitter he’s been most of his career?  Can he dominate like he did in the 2009 Post-season or is that hitter gone?

I wish the answer to all of those questions was Yes but Reality paints a different picture.  Alex has been on a slow, steady decline since his MVP season in 2007.  Whether his decline has been caused by age or the multitude of injuries he has endured, there is no doubting he is not the same menacing presence in the cleanup slot anymore.

ARod started this season healthy and was having a solid year until he hurt his knee at Wrigley Field on June 19th.  Up until that point he was hitting .289 – 13hr – 43rbi in 249 ABs.  While those weren’t the dominating numbers he used to put up in his prime, he was on pace for another 30 HR – 100 RBI season.  He went on to play another 3 weeks after the initial knee injury but it was obvious he had Zero leg drive at the plate and was hitting purely with his upper body.  Mired in the midst of the longest stretch without a HR in his career (96 ABs), it was decided that he should have the torn meniscus operated on so he would be ready for the post-season.

This was definitely the right call at the time and he returned 6 weeks later on August 21st with 5-6 weeks to get his stroke back before the post-season.  Unfortunately, Alex injured his right thumb immediately after returning and it has hampered him non-stop since.  He is 11 for 45 with 3 HRs since his return but hopefully he can use the next 5 or 6 days to get somewhere near 100%.

Because of the time lost and the injured thumb, I doubt we can expect ARod to carry the team like he did in the 2009 Playoffs & World Series, but, he needs to have a solid post-season for the Yanks to get where they want.  During his Yankee tenure, there is a clear link to the success of Rodriguez and the success of the team. Since his arrival in 2004, the Yanks have played in 10 Post-season series, winning 5 and losing 5.  ARod has been a paramount figure in why the team won and lost those series.

Here is how Alex Rodriguez has hit in his 10 Post-season series with the Yanks:

	Games	ABs	Hits	Average	HRs	RBIs
5 Series Wins	22	82	30	0.366	7	22
5 Series Losses	26	96	19	0.198	3	8
Total – 10 Series	48	178	49	0.275	10	30

While ARod is still a huge piece of the lineup, hopefully guys like Granderson & Cano can continue their MVP-type seasons  and Swisher & Teixeira can finally have strong post-seasons to take some of the burden off of Alex.  The Playoffs usually come down to which team pitches the best and comes up with the big hits when they are needed.  ARod always seems to come up in those big ABs and hopefully he will be physically sound so he can do his job.  With the other weapons on this team, Alex shouldn’t feel the pressure to carry the team like he used to.  If he can just have a solid October, I think the offense will their job and the Yankees fate will rest on the arms of its starting pitchers.