.....also, Gardy and Ellsbury have been hitting ".240" the past two weeks while DiDi has been over .400...... GJG may have already missed a prime chance to put more life at the top of the lineup (ahead of McCann, Arod ect) by NOT moving Didi into the two hole. Just one of the dozens and dozens of choices and decisions the MGR (not the GM) does or doesn't make throughout parts of the season which don't show up in the box score. Of course we'll never know the "results" because it never happened but it's always worth A TRY to shake things up a little bit if or when your lineup is struggling a bit.
I'd give a go with this. CF-Ellsbury 3B-Headley RF-Beltran C-McCann DH-Rodriguez 1B-Bird SS-Gregorius 2B-Drew LF-Gardner
Okay- but getting back to Pasta's point on DiDi possibly batting in the two hole- He has been red hot.....330 BA second half, over .400 past two weeks AND he has more speed than Headley and is in the neighborhood (speed) with Gardy and Ellsbury. GJG is NOT one to ride a hot horse even when the other horses are telling him. Gardy and Ellsbury ➡around .240 past two weeks, Didi➡ over .400 same period. The kid may be due to cool off a bit, and maybe Gardy and Ellsbury begin to warm up - GJG missed his chance.... GJG! Worried that a struggling veteran may take a temper tantrum? It's still possible this could give a young growing player more confidence and DiDi might welcome the "challenge" and opportunity, and take another step forward. ???
If it was me I would just leave Didi alone. Yes, he has been hot and hitting the ball hard but moving him up can put pressure on him. Headley on the other hand was in the two spot when Ellsbury was hurt and did quite well and turned his season around.
I hear ya- point taken on DiDi- yup, aware of the comfort factor. You AND Girardi are probably correct in leaving DiDi where he is. I personally just wouldn't want a speedy young player who is making strides believe he's a career "9 hitter" type of player. Maybe a couple of times when Gardy or Ellsbury have a day off GJG calls DiDi into his office and tells him: "you're batting 2nd today because I'm giving Gardy(Ells) a day off.....just be yourself and we don't expect you to be anyone else"....
Didi should be happy enough with the strides he made in season at a position where he's replacing an all time legend. I doubt he's thinking about or cares where he's in the lineup right now. This is what would be best for the team. Blind loyalty to Gardner cannot continue if he doesn't starting picking it up. This is over a month now of not much of anything out of the two hole. In fact if you take July, August and so far in September Gardner is 45 for 207 which is .217. So that's over two months of being just dreadful in the two hole. Sadly, Gardner had a similar end to his 2014 year when he was .213 in August and .167 in September. He's certainly setting a trend for fading as the season goes on. I mention Headly over Didi because he already did it this season as was just fine.
Gardy tailing off - which is why I took the position (during ST) and prior, that he and the TEAM are better served if he can maintain a good BA and GOOD OBP while stealing only 25 or so bases....and I took mucho criticism for it. Sure, we would like to see him be more aggressive in SB attempts but this guy needs to be a more consistent .275-285 hitter, get on base at a good clip, utilize his speed running the bases.....and just maybe he knows his body and can't "constantly" be pounding into bases attempting to steal. He can't, or preferably must avoid going into these disappearing acts over prolonged periods in order to be a significant asset to the lineup- as for SB, he is what he is/has become,....he just isn't going to be your 45-50 SB type of player..... ....he needs to improve and be more consistent with his overall hitting ability.....imo. I couldn't care less if he steals "only" 25 or so bases if he can be a rock solid .280-ish hitter with a few HRs here and there with good defense. Yanks should be so lucky. Let's see if he has another hot streak in him in the closing weeks.
At 32 years of age it is what it is with Gardner. Like you said with the time that's left in season lets hope he can go on a two week or so hot streak when the team really needs it. I'm just really disappointed in him and didn't think we would be headed down this road again. My thoughts for a couple of years was that he's a glorified fourth outfielder even though at the beginning of season he obviously plays beyond that to the point that he was an All Star. But then you look at the horrid stats at the end of the last two seasons up to this point and you have to ask yourself. Is he a 162 game type player?
Yanks, or any other team obviously can carry him if they were getting good production over the full season from the other two outfield spots...and/or if they were getting better than average production from other infield spots. We would surely be more tolerant if we were getting Cano-like production from 2nd base and 25 HR 85 RBI from 3rd base. lol He sure would be a terrific fouth outfielder.....and any team which would be able to have him as a fourth outfielder is probably a heck of a team. Oh well, he's our guy.....good guy, proud Yankee who gets it and cares. Hopefully, (I pray, lol) the Yankee pitching will buckle down for the remainder of the season, alleviate a couple of weaknesses and keep things in tight order.
...Gardner is a slap hitter, always has been,...strikes out way too much for a leadoff guy, always has....good defense. ...Ellsbury simply cannot stay on the field, always been that way. Good baserunner. Good defense. But giving him $21 Mil a year until he's 38 was a bad contract move and will only get worse.
