Curtis Granderson answers the call

Personality wise, it’s tough to dislike Curtis Granderson. He comes across as a smart, affable guy who truly enjoys what he’s doing. But when it comes to the Yankees, the fans base their reactions mostly on performance. A guy can say all the right things at the right times, but if he doesn’t perform on the field he’s not going to get a warm reception. That’s what Granderson found out this year.

At the beginning it looked like Granderson would it in just fine. He homered in his first at-bat as a Yankee, and he followed that up two nights later with a game-winning homer off Jon Papelbon. Is there any better way to ingratiate yourself to Yankees fans? Unfortunately for Granderson, he used up that good will pretty quickly. By the time he hit the DL on May 2 he was hitting a paltry .225/.311/.375. He faced a doubly whammy, too, because the guy the Yankeees traded for him, Austin Jackson, was off to an otherworldly start.

Still, I wanted to give Granderson more time. All players slump, but those who slump early in the season look all the worse for it. If a 4 for 30 slump comes at the beginning of the season a player’s numbers will look horrible, and it will take him a while to climb out of it (just ask 2004 Derek Jeter). But if he has already built up numbers and then goes on a 4 for 30 slide his numbers won’t look quite as bad. So, thinking it was just poor timing, I waited for Granderson to produce.

It didn’t happen.

On August 10 I had enough. Granderson had to sit against lefties. With Austin Kearns on board the idea was much more palatable. Against lefties the Yankees would have an outfield of Kearns, Brett Gardner, and Nick Swisher, which sounds pretty good. Granderson could still get in his work against righties, against whom he wasn’t hitting atrociously. Then, during the off-season, like Swisher last year, Granderson could work with Kevin Long in an attempt to get back on track. It turns out they were 13 steps ahead of me.*

*As they should be.

Granderson didn’t start the night I made my grand proclamation. Nor did he start the next night. The reason: he and Long were working to refine his swing. It was hard to argue with the logic. The Yankees were facing two lefties, C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee, so why not take that time to try and get Granderson right? After two days of tweaks the Yankees sent Granderson back out into the starting lineup against the lefty Bruce Chen. He went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk on the night. Since then it’s been a nice ride.

I note it in the recap often, but I thought Granderson deserved an entire post here, if for no other reason to serve as my own mea culpa. Since he sat out those games in Texas he’s been on an absolute tear, going 14 for 44 (.318) with six walks (.420 OBP) and six extra base hits (.651). That has raised his season line from .239/.306/.415 on August 10 to .250/.321/.445 after last night. That’s not a pretty line, but as you can see it’s a stark improvement over where he’s been. It’s also at least a little comforting that two of his three hits last night, including the homer, came off a lefty.

Granderson currently sits in a pontoon boat next to Mark Teixeira’s battleship. Both got off to poor starts, and both streaked and slumped afterward. It will lead to lower than expected production from both. But right now, on August 25, that matters little. The only important thing is how these guys perform from this point forward. If Granderson can keep up some semblance of the production he’s showed in the past few weeks he can certainly be a big part of the Yankees’ pennant run. Hats off to him and Long for getting everything straight. The Yankees might yet see their expected return on this trade.