VOTE: Which slumping Yankee will break out?
· Yahoo Sports
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The race is tight.
The New York Yankees are only 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the lead in the American League East. However, they’re also working to stave off the Boston Red Sox, who broke down the door and entered the conversation over the past couple months. Every swing decision, every pitch, and every fielding choice matters more with every game played, and for some players this season, those have come easier than to others.
The Yankees need all hands on deck and a return to form from one or multiple players to make their case for an AL East title and World Series championship all the more believable, and there are cases for each one. Jazz Chisholm Jr., while he does sit in third place on the Yankees in fWAR, didn’t get there because of his ability to get on base this season. Rather, he’s there because of what he can do both in the field and when he does get on base. He’s 11th in MLB in strikeout rate, his OBP is below .300, and his wRC+ is 93 across the 121 games he has played this season. However, he’s fourth in MLB in stolen bases, and despite his offensive issues, he’s still been very effective on the basepaths. The same goes for Jose Caballero, whose entire profile is similar to that of Jazz’s this season — although Caballero didn’t come out before the season and say he wanted to go for a 50/50 campaign.
Austin Wells is another roster mainstay who has failed to live up to snuff this season. His last 20 games have been better than what his numbers might suggest (.255/.340/.404 slashline instead of .179/.274/.297), but he has been the worst hitter on the team for the majority, if not the entire season. He has been decent behind the plate, and the two seasons before this saw Wells showcase his offensive potential. However, he hasn’t been the same this year. But compared to new addition Heliot Ramos, who came over from the San Francisco Giants, Wells looks like a superstar.
In 16 games in pinstripes, Ramos is slashing .113/.230/.189, which is good for a 19 wRC+. His -0.7 fWAR is the worst on the Yankees and in such a short period of time. But a redeeming factor could be an acclimation period. Moving from one side of the country to the other isn’t easy for anyone, let alone a professional baseball player. And in 74 games with the Giants, Ramos was a slightly above-average hitter (105 OPS+) who had the kind of opposite-field power that could really be handy at Yankee Stadium. So, while it may be taking longer for him to get his bearings in a Yankee uniform than some fans may like, the sample size is still small, and he has a chance to prove himself down the stretch.
If you had to pick one player who could return to form and help lead the charge, which one do you think is most likely? Let us know in the Feed poll below, and we’ll analyze the results later in the week.
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