On RISP Fail And Expectations

(Has Curtis really been a RISP Failure this year?  Courtesy of the AP)

Despite being 2nd in the American League in runs scored, this has generally been considered a down year for the Yankee offense, and in some respects it has been.  For the better part of this season they've been a mostly one-dimensional team that seems to alternate between stretches of big-time production and big-time lack of production at the drop of a hat.  One of the biggest talking points when discussing this down offensive year has been the team's struggles to hit with runners in scoring position.  The Yankees' on again-off again relationship with RISP Fail was out in the open again this past weekend against Oakland, when they went a combined 6-28 in the 3 games, winning 2 close ones and losing another while being a few hits with RISP away from much more comfortable victories in each.

The RISP Fail theme has been around for so long this season that the perception is almost starting to become that the Yankees "can't" get big hits with runners in scoring position, which is not entirely true.  A look at the high-level team numbers will show that, but a look at the individual statistics is what adds fuel to this fire and, in my opinion, continues to drive this RISP Fail storyline.

To Slump Or Not To Slump...

(One of the few guys holding up his end with the stick lately.  Courtesy of The AP)

That is the question right now.  The offense has been maddeningly inconsistent of late, with the last 2 weeks of play being littered with too many men left on base, too many failures to capitalize with RISP, all-or-nothing production from the middle of the order, and a percentage of runs coming on HR that will only fuel the MSM talk about the Yankees "relying too much" on the longball.  In the past 2 weeks, the Yankees have gone 7-6, starting with an inspiring 3-1 series against the Rangers and ending with a 2-4 dud of a road trip to Chicago and Cleveland.  The pitching hasn't been all that steady either, but received a much needed shot in the arm with CC's return on Friday night.  I know the offense is dealing with its injury problems as well, but it just seems like these guys can't get on the same page and can't decide if they want to break out or slump.  It's frustrating.

F*cking Double Plays

I don't know how many other people have noticed it, but there's been an overabundance of double plays hit into by Yankee batters over the last week.  Including last night's game, the Yankees have hit into 12 double plays over their last 8 games.  8 of those GIDPs have come in the past 3 games, and 5 have come in the past 2, including a pair off the bat of Derek Jeter on Monday night and consecutive inning-ending ones in the 8th and 9th last night by Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.

For my money, there aren't many things more frustrating in baseball than watching your team hit into a double play.  The only thing worse might be taking a called 3rd strike with RISP.  This recent spike in GIDPs from the Yankees has been frustrating enough as it is, and it's made even more frustrating when you consider the sources.  Of the 12 double plays in the past week, all of them have been hit into by the key members of the lineup:

- Jeter (4), C-Grand (3), Swish (2), Cano/A-Rod/Teix (1 apiece)

I can live with the lesser hitters on the team falling victim to the old GIDP every now and then.  But to have the major table setters and run producers in the lineup be the only culprits is a tough pill to swallow.  Not only are these guys not doing the job they're in the lineup to do, they're taking more runners off the bases so that the guy hitting behind them can't do the job either.

The Yanks are middle of the pack in MLB in GB rate this season (45.4%, tied for 13th), so it's not like this is a byproduct of them beating the ball into the ground more.  It's likely just attributable to a bout of small sample size bad luck.  But with the rotation still not in sync and the bullpen battling a plague of health problems, the offense needs to produce now more than ever.  It's hard to do that when you're continually putting 2 outs on the scoreboard with 1 swing.