What Is Soriano's Role Now?

It's been a little over a week since Alfonso Soriano was removed from an everyday role in the lineup.  An 0-4 day against Oakland on June 14th bottomed his season slash line out at .224/.249/.388 and since then Soriano has gotten 6 plate appearances in the last 7 games.  3 of those 6 PA have come as a pinch hitter, 3 came in the lone start he got against Mark Buehrle last Wednesday, and in the other 3 games Soriano stayed glued to the bench.

Going back to the start of the month, when Soriano's slump was at its worst and his playing time started to decrease, he has now not played in the same number of games that he has played (10).  His production in June (.214/.214/.286, 12 K in 28 PA) is as unproductive as it's been all year, which raises the question of what, exactly, is Soriano's role at this point?  He's the de facto 4th outfielder with Ichiro starting and Beltran DH'ing, but Joe is never going to use him for defensive purposes.  And even though he does have 3 hits in his 6 PA since 6/14, all 3 of them have been singles, so he's not exactly filling the role of late-game masher option off the bench.

Soriano serves almost no purpose to Joe and the team right now with what he's contributing.  If and when Beltran is able to return to the field and get back in the outfield rotation, Soriano's usefulness will shrink even more.  He's been almost completely phased out as it is, and it may only be a matter of time before he's removed from the active roster completely.

Yanks Bench Could Still Use Some Work

The Yankees addressed a serious need yesterday by claiming Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the Orioles.  Ishikawa should immediately assume the role as designated lefty bench bat, a role the Yankees haven't been able to fill for the past few weeks and one that they could have put to great use at least a handful of times last week.  They were back up to 4 available bench players again after Eduardo Nunez took David Phelps' spot on the active roster this weekend, but all 4 of those players were right-handed and severely below-average hitters.  The anticipated replacement of David Adams with Ishikawa does bring a little balance back to the bench lineup.  It's not the final move the Yanks should make if they're looking to add even more bench flexibility.

Let's Give A Call To The Bench

They haven't gotten a whole lot of ink this season while the majority of the focus has been on the injuries, RISP Fail, and starting rotation, but the contributions of the Yankee bench this season should not be going unnoticed.  Their collective role has become more important with the injuries suffered by everyday players in the lineup and Joe's need to keep the older players in the starting lineup fresh with regular rest and DH days, and across the board the bench guys have lived up to those roles.  Their importance is only going to increase with Alex Rodriguez down and out for the next 6-8 weeks, and much like certain unsung members of the bullpen earlier in the season, the ability of these unsung bench bodies to produce could be the extra little boost the Yankees need to keep marching forward and not miss a beat with A-Rod gone.