What’s the one thing that needs to happen in order for the New York Yankees to be successful in 2013?
Curtis Granderson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Staying healthy.
And what occurred in the 1st inning of the second game of Spring Training vs. Toronto today?
A pitch hit Curtis Granderson in the arm, and the “precautionary” x-rays showed a fracture. According to the New York Times, Granderson will miss a minimum of 10 weeks.
Look there is no sugar-coating this one, as losing Granderson’s bat is really bad.
With the off-season losses of Nick Swisher, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, and Russell Martin, and with Alex Rodriquez out till August makes this on the verge of devastating for the Yankees.It is no secret that Granderson strikes out a ton but he is also homerun-hitting machine. Since coming to New York in 2010, the Grandyman has 108 homers, and 292 RBIs.
Here are his stats, courtesy of baseball-reference.com:
Year | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 466 | 76 | 115 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 67 | 12 | 53 | 116 | 0.247 | 0.324 | 0.468 | 0.792 | 218 |
| 2011 | 583 | 136 | 153 | 26 | 10 | 41 | 119 | 25 | 85 | 169 | 0.262 | 0.364 | 0.552 | 0.916 | 322 |
| 2012 | 596 | 102 | 138 | 18 | 4 | 43 | 106 | 10 | 75 | 195 | 0.232 | 0.319 | 0.492 | 0.811 | 293 |
| NYY (3 yrs) | 1645 | 314 | 406 | 61 | 21 | 108 | 292 | 47 | 213 | 480 | 0.247 | 0.337 | 0.506 | 0.843 | 833 |
Along with Granderson the power in the Yankees line-up is expected to come from Robinson Cano, Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira.
Tex is a perennially slow starter so don’t expect to see him hit till June. And Youk has a new batting stance but unless it will help him hit righties who cares.
That leaves the Yankees with Cano, who is in a contract year. What a perfect time for Robbie to earn his contract money by carrying the team offensively.
Bottom line is avoiding injuries is at the top of every major league team’s wish, but they are inevitable.
That is why the importance of a solid bench can make or break a team, which the Yankees proved last season.
Well that luxury is now gone in the Bronx thanks to a lackadaisical attitude by Yankees ownership during the off-season. They did not prioritize signing bench guys like Ibanez and Chavez, which was a mistake.
No doubt, the 2013 New York Yankees are now in real trouble.
“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” – Irish soccer player Roy Keane
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Why don't you spend a little time exploring what options we DO have vs the the ones we don't. Gone is gone.