With Brett Gardner now being day-to-day with a wrist contusion, the Yankees are forced to deal with another injury and another subsequent act of lineup juggling to replace him if he has to miss a few games.
That's bad enough as it is. Don't get me wrong, Chad Huffman and Colin Curtis are cute and all, they're adorable really, and I appreciate what they did on Sunday to key the comeback. But they aren't everyday Major League players. Gardner is. And he's a damn good one at that. Simon and Sharp at ESPN NY compiled a bunch of stats to show just how good and just how valuable Gardner has been to the Yanks this year, and what they will be missing if Gardner misses some time. You can find the complete post right here, but here are some of the highlights:
- Gardner has a higher SLG % than Teix and a higher OBP than Jeter.
- Gardner has the 2nd highest OBP in June behind only Josh Hamilton.
- Gardner has a 1.005 OPS in June, which leads the team.
- his leadoff OBP is .500 for the season.
- he scores 43% of the time that he's on base.
- he currently ranks 5th in ESPN's Fantasy Player Rater, ahead of the likes of Jayson Werth, Matt Holliday, Ichiro, and Ryan Braun.
When you read that laundry list, you start to get a little nervous about how much time Gardner could miss with this injury, how his absence will impact the Yankee offense that still hasn't hit its stride, and how much he might be affected long-term with his wrist even after he comes back.
So thanks, Mark and Katie. I appreciate the downer on an already crappy day. I will now sit here and proceed to chew what's left of my fingernails down to nothing and hope Phil is on his A-game tonight after the long layoff.
P.S.- On the positive side, all that info on Gardner is just further support for my belief that he should be an All-Star.
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