WHY HE'S STILL HERE

(Photo: Getty)
We’re going to start this off with a little guessing game. Here’s the question: Who is the Yankees hottest hitter this month?

I’d expect the vast majority of you to say Curtis Granderson or Mark Teixeira, seeing as they are both going yard practically every swing. Maybe you haven’t been paying much attention and you’re just going to play it safe and guess Robinson Cano. That’s usually a good guess, but no.

The answer may shock you: it’s Jorge Posada. In fact, it’s not even a close competition. As of June 10th, Jorge’s batting average is .215 (just shy of Swisher’s .216) and his OPS is .692. Obviously neither of those numbers scream domination, in fact to an ignorant onlooker they look terrible.(Photo: Getty)
However, since June 1st, Jorge is batting a ridiculous .500 with an OPS up in the stratosphere at 1.133. Obviously, a mere 24 at bats is a small sample size, but more encouraging are his numbers since May 1st. Since then, he’s batting over .260 (closer to .270, no updated stats available) with an OPS in the .700s, which is about league average. His on base percentage since then is nearly .380, which is among the best on the team.

Everyone’s seen his success over the past week, so it may not be too surprising to know that he’s been the best hitter this month, but I admit, I was taken aback when I saw his stats from May 1st on. This is a man who has for the better part of the season been mocked and told to retire. One person on our BYB staff truly believed in him all along though, that was Mikey Blue. He wrote, WHY WE LOVE JORGE back on February 10th.(Photo: Getty)
Ever since the end of his atrocious first month in which he hit .125, Jorge’s gotten progressively better and better. How is it that no one noticed Jorge’s rapidly climbing numbers? It’s simple, the press has spun public opinion of Jorge completely against him, refusing to cease discussion of “Posada-Gate” or his sub-.200 average, which is no longer a valid discussion. He’s been an above average player for a good while now and recently has been on an absolute tear.

The negative press around good old Jorgie has gotten out of hand, but it’s clearly not gotten to him. It’s starting to look like that horrible, horrible April was really just a DH adjustment period. After spending some more time there and taking a lot of days off, he’s gotten used to not playing defense. His season numbers are still below average, but his .215 average is only so far behind quite a few other players in the league. The Indians’ Shin-Soo Choo is batting in the .230s, which at this point is really a difference of a few hits, but is anyone telling him to retire? No. His season numbers aren’t respectable yet, but his improvements are beyond it. I’m not saying he’s going to bat .500 the rest of the season, no matter how nice it’d be, but I’m saying Jorge’s going to get a lot closer to .260 and will hopefully continue his success into the post-season.

So in conclusion: Hip Hip, Jorge!




--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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