Life after Robinson Cano has not been too pretty for the Yankees. Their second baseman have hit a combined .219/.273/.364 (74 wRC+) since the start of last season, and their -1.3 fWAR during that time is dead last among the 30 clubs. The Yankees went from the best second baseman in baseball to the collective worst. It’s been a shock to the system.
That wasn’t entirely unexpected though. Cano is the best second baseman in baseball — or he was his last few years in New York, at the very least — and that made him irreplaceable. A drop off at second base was expected, though I didn’t think it would be this much of a drop off. Stephen Drew has held down the position most of the season and, even though he’s been better in recent months, he still has a .201/.271/.381 (76 wRC+) batting line on the season. Bad.
Lately though, Drew has been losing playing time to trade deadline pickup Dustin Ackley, who has forced Joe Girardi’s hand. Ackley got a rare start at first base against the Blue Jays in the second game of their September 12th doubleheader, and while the Yankees didn’t win, Ackley went 1-for-4 with a walk. He started again the next day because he had good career numbers against R.A. Dickey, and went 2-for-2 with a homer. Ackley drove in three of the team’s four runs.
It was going to take a game like to get Ackley more playing time. He landed on the DL almost immediately following the trade, and, after returning when rosters expanded, he received one plate appearance from September 1st through 8th. “I’m going with the guys that have gotten us here,” said Girardi to Chad Jennings when asked about the second base job. Girardi was talking about Rob Refsnyder, but he might as well have been talking about Ackley. Drew (and Brendan Ryan) was his man.
But again, Ackley forced the issue. He had a pinch-hit single with two outs in the ninth against the Rays on September 14th, which sparked the Yankees’ four-run rally (the Slade Heathcott homer game). Ackley came off the bench the next day and singled in his pinch-hitting appearance. His first start at second base — it was only his second start at second since 2013 — came the next day, and while he went 0-for-2, he did rebound with a pinch-hit double against the Mets Friday. Ackley started at second again Saturday and tripled to dead center. He started at second again Sunday and hit a big three-run homer to break the game open.
When the Yankees acquired Ackley, I figured the move was geared more towards next season — as I’ve said, I think the team believes Ackley could be a candidate for a Brock Holt-esque role — and was likely to have little impact down the stretch. It was easy to understand why the Yankees made the move though. Ackley replaced Garrett Jones after all, plus he’s still only 27 and has talent. The guy wasn’t the second overall pick in the country by accident. Considering what they gave up (extra pieces in Ramon Flores and Jose Ramirez), it made sense.
And right now it makes sense to keep Ackley in the lineup as the starting second baseman, even if only against righties. Drew has been better in the second half overall but has gone cold of late — he’s currently in a 2-for-27 (.074) skid — and these games are simply too important to wait around hoping he has another three or four-game hot streak. There’s not that much time left in the season. The Yankees should stick with what’s working. Starting Ackley against Price last night was indication Girardi will do just that.
“I like the way he’s swung the bat,” said Girardi to Dan Martin over the weekend. “We expected he would be able to help us out at different positions. Since he had played a number of positions in Seattle, we could move him around and that he would play well in our ballpark. He’s pinch hit, played against a knuckleballer and played against a guy who throws 100 [Noah Syndergaard on Saturday]. That’s why we went and got him.”
Ackley makes the most sense for the second base job at this moment, and we should leave it at that. We have an entire offseason to worry about where he fits in next season — starting second baseman? supersub? seldom used utility man? — and I’m sure that will be a much discussed topic. The priority right now is winning games and qualifying for the postseason. Right now, Ackley give the Yankees a better chance to do that than Drew. He’s the short-term solution at the position.
“He has been swinging a great bat and we continue to give him opportunities,’’ said Girardi to George King. “He has gotten a lot of big hits for us and will continue to get opportunities.’’
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.