Keidel: Was A-Rod's Homer On Sunday Simply An Aberration?
By Jason Keidel
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After Derek Jeter, the icon and emblem of the Joe Torre dynasty and last link to the 1990s, hung up his cleats, the Yankees seemed bound to reboot, rebuild, and recover. Not only was there an epic void in leadership, but also the aggregate production and presence of the Core Four.
You wondered who would pick up partial slack from the veterans left in the lineup. Would it be Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, or Brett Gardner?
The last person you expected to step in, Alex Rodriguez, stepped up and took over. A-Rod was not only forlorn, he was forgotten, limping back from a yearlong suspension for PEDs. He was only a Yankee because his swollen contract couldn't be dumped on another franchise. Yet, literally out of nowhere, A-Rod filled Jeter's dual roles as alpha male and clutch bat. His renaissance was the main cog in a resurgent Yankee machine that surprised everyone with a trip to the playoffs.
They lost, of course, before October really began, shut out by the Astros, highlighting the holes in their lineup against lefties. Not surprisingly, they had no answers for Dallas Keuchel with Teixeira injured and A-Rod faltering. Indeed, the Yanks tumbled out of October with three hits over nine innings, and with A-Rod striking out twice and leaving three runners on base.
The twin pillars of their last World Series title are once again crucial cogs this year. They're a year older, slower, and injury-addled, but no one could expect A-Rod to have dipped so precipitously this year. He's striking out at an alarming rate. Scouts say he can't hit an average fastball, and his rate of contact is among the lowest in the majors.
Father Time is polishing his unbeaten record with A-Rod's jersey. If his glacial start is indeed a precursor for this entire season, the Yankees are in trouble. Already anemic against left-handed pitching, the Yanks don't have enough pitching of their own to win a cluster of 2-1 games.
Unlike the Mets, whose fourth starter, Steven Matz, can toss a shutout, the Yankees can't even be sure of anyone beyond their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, the only starter to toss at least seven innings (his output on Sunday).
So the Bronx Bombers need to live up to their handle, and it starts with their biggest Bomber.
But when you have four hits in 34 at-bats, you could facetiously assert that it reads like one of his playoff series, you're more than struggling. That's a whopping .118 BA. A-Rod has reached base eight times, and has struck out 13 times. He's also had an 0-for-19 drought this April, the second-longest of his career.
You can have copious Ks if you're getting it done in other areas. But A-Rod had been an anchor around the lineup. By contrast, Josh Donaldson has more strikeouts (16), but also five homers, 13 RBI and a .321 average.
The Yankees staggered into Sunday's game with four losses in a row and an 0-for-22 streak with runners in scoring position.
But monoliths like Rodriguez are there to snap such streaks. Particularly A-Rod, who has no job other than hitting the baseball, the most expensive DH in history who gets just four or five chances to impact a baseball game.
Considering his age and wage, any slump will be scoped with a jeweler's eye. He is A-Rod, after all, the lightning rod of the Big Apple as long as he collects countless millions to play half the game. The best way to get your name from Page Six to the back page is to hit your way there.
So, the Yankees dropped him to sixth in the batting order Sunday and he clubbed an essential homer and carried the Yankees to victory. Go figure.
Is this the first hit in a resurgence or an anomaly, a blip in an otherwise flat-lined season? Of all the tormented minds in baseball history, A-Rod's brain is the last you'd want to dissect. When you expect him to carry a club, he fizzles. When you expect him to fizzle, he carries a club.
The Yanks need more of this, for Alex Rodriguez to be A-Rod if they're going to topple Boston, Baltimore, and Toronto in the AL East. And no matter what you think of the man wearing the number, No. 13 has to be your lucky number in 2016.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel