Yankees Struggles Start at the Top. Blame Cameron Diaz?

The New York Yankees had started the season red hot but have cooled down of late. Losers of four of their last five, the Yankees now sit 2.5 games back of AL East leading Tampa Bay. I decided to look back at the past five games and try to find a common theme.

Well, I found one at it was right at the top. The top of the batting order that is. The top four spots in the Yankees batting order have not had much success at all the past five games. These are the guys expected to carry the club and provide most of the pop.

The captain Derek Jeter is part of this as well. The leadoff batter has just four hits the past five games and a batting average of just .182 in that span. He has walked once and struck out twice while leaving ten runners on base. Where has captain clutch gone the past five games?

Three players have split time in the number two spot in the lineup. Nick Johnson is the regular number two hitter but has missed the past few games due to a sore back, allowing Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner to both see some time at the top of the lineup.  Before going out with the sore back, Johnson was 1-for-8 in the past five games, good for a .125 average. He has struck out twice in those eight at bats and left five runners on base. Another stat that shows his struggles are that he has zero walks in the past five games. Taking walks is a major part of Johnson’s offensive package.

Nick Swisher batted in the two hole during one game but went 0-for-3 and left one runner on base. Left fielder Brett Gardner has had the most success at the top of the order in these games. He has three hits in ten at bats, including a triple. He has left three runners on base.

First baseman Mark Teixeira has continued his very slow start to the season. He does have three RBI’s the past five games, but that is not a lot at all, especially from a number three hitter. In 18 at bats, Tex has just three hits, one being a home run. He has walked four times which is a good sign, but has also struck out three times. Teixeira has left eight men on base in the past five games. He is batting .167 in the five game span.

The final culprit is third baseman Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is batting .174 the past five games after getting four hits in his past 23 at bats. The cleanup hitter has a grand total of one RBI in the span. He has struck out four times while leaving eleven men on base. Yes, eleven!

So as you can see, the Yankees struggles definitely start at the top of the order. These guys must turn it around quickly to get the team back on the winning track. Is there a reason for this? Nobody can be sure. Everyone goes through slumps and this is liking just bad timing as all these star players are experiencing a slump at the same time. I don’t think you can find any true reasons or answers for it, unless maybe you are talking about A-Rod. He just does not seem to be the same guy he was last year. Kate from Lady Loves Pinstripes has a funny story about why A-Rod has been struggling. Can we blame Cameron Diaz? Hmm…