During his 15-year Major League Baseball playing career, Joe Girardi was a scrappy catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. As a player Girardi was a three-time World Series Champion with the Yankees and the same traits that allowed him to last that long as an MLB player are the same things that have allowed him to succeed as an MLB manager. In seven seasons as an MLB manager, Girardi has compiled a record of 632-480. Girardi made his managerial debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins. That year Girardi shocked many baseball pundits as he led the Marlins to a record of 78-84 with a team that was expected to lose at least 100 games. Girardi’s accomplishments wouldn’t go unnoticed as he earned the National League’s Manager of the Year Award in 2006. After differences in philosophies with the Marlins front office, Girardi was fired after the 2006 season, but he quickly landed on his feet as he became the manager of the Yankees in 2008. By 2009, Girardi led the Yankees to a World Series Championship. Since then the Yankees have made the playoffs in each season, but 2013 might be his best work.
Past Yankee teams under Girardi were expected to coast to the playoffs, but things have changed in 2013.
The Yankees came into this season with an aging team along with key injuries and controversy. After suffering a wrist injury in last spring’s World Baseball Classic, first baseman Mark Teixeira has been inactive for the majority of the season. Outfielder Curtis Granderson suffered a broken forearm in spring training which has contributed to him appearing in only 40 games this season. Shortstop Derek Jeter suffered a fractured ankle in last season’s American League Championship Series which has limited him to only 15 games this season. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery last off-season, and since then he has been at war with the Yankees front office along with MLB commissioner Bud Selig over a proposed suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy.
Through it all Girardi has led the Yankees to a record of 75-65. The Yankees are 9 games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East so their third consecutive division title is in jeopardy, but they are only 2.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League’s final wild card spot.
The Yankees pitching has come up big this season as the offense faltered early on due to injuries. The Yankees 3.81 team earned run average is sixth in the AL. Starting pitchers CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, and Andy Pettitte all have double-digits in victories. Sabathia’s 4.86 earned run average is the highest of his 13-year MLB career, but he is still on pace to pitch at least 200 innings for the seventh consecutive season. The Yankees bullpen has once again been rock solid. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is tied for the American League lead in saves with 41. Relief pitcher David Robertson is the heir apparent to Rivera when he retires and he has 31 holds on the year to go along with his 1.85 earned run average.
With the recent acquisition of outfielder Alfonso Soriano from the Chicago Cubs and the return of Jeter, Rodriguez, and Granderson to the lineup, the Yankees finally resemble the Bronx Bombers that people have feared. Until recently the Yankees lineup has consisted of first baseman Lyle Overbay, outfielder Vernon Wells, and designated hitter Travis Hafner. The Yankees are near the bottom of most major offensive categories in the AL as they are 12th in batting average (.247), 12th in on-base percentage (.312), and 14th in home runs (124).
Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has been the main stalwart in the lineup as he leads the team in batting average (.307), home runs (26), runs batted in (94), on-base percentage (.384), and hits (160).
Since Rodriguez returned last month, he is batting .283 with 4 home runs. In 38 games with the Yankees, Soriano is already third on the club with 12 home runs and he has 41 runs batted in as he resembles the player that the Yankees traded away in 2003.
After being swept by the Chicago White Sox on August 7, the Yankees are 18-8. Over that stretch the Yankees have only lost one series which was against the Rays. Since then the Yankees have taken series from playoff bound teams in the Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. The Yankees cannot let up on the throttle as over the next 10 days they have seven games with the Red Sox and four with the Baltimore Orioles who the Yankees are battling it out with in the wild card race. The Yankees already dropped the first game of this four-game series to the Red Sox last night which makes the rest of the series that much more critical.
The Yankees are always expected to contend, but this year it has been different with the injuries and the fact that the American League East is the toughest division in baseball as four teams are currently sporting winning records. Girardi produced magic with the Marlins in 2006, but if he can lead this Yankee team to the playoffs that would eclipse his effort in South Florida.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
Leave A Comment