Capellini: With McCann A New Man, Yankees Are Finally Getting What They Paid For
By Jeff Capellini, WFAN.com
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Remember when Brian McCann was labeled as a player who couldn't cut it in New York?
That was a long time ago, it seems. These days, it's hard to imagine the Yankees succeeding without him.
The veteran catcher struggled through the 2014 season, his first in the Bronx after signing a five-year, $85 million free agent contract. His problems were magnified because the Yankees were limping through a second straight season of looking utterly clueless at the plate.
A seven-time All-Star with the Atlanta Braves, McCann seemed to personify the Bombers' transformation from a feared offensive club to one unable to string hits together and with a sudden allergic reaction to the long ball. The lefty-swinging catcher hit just .232 during his first season in pinstripes, 45 points lower than his career average.
And a lot of his issues were taking place in a stadium where he was supposed to feast. We've heard many times about players brought to the Yankees specifically due to their swing lining up perfectly with the short porch in right field.
McCann was the modern-day poster child of that thinking.
And though his final power numbers last season -- 23 home runs and 75 RBIs in 495 total at-bats -- were on par with what he had produced during his time in Atlanta, McCann went dark for long stretches. He hit just .219 in August and .222 in September, as the Yankees missed the playoffs for the second season in a row.
At one point during his rocky transition, McCann got tweaked by his former organization. Braves first base coach Terry Pendleton said it was possible McCann, a good ole Southern boy, would never feel comfortable in the great sports pressure cooker up north.
"New York is not Brian," Pendleton said last July. "That's my opinion. I knew if he chose New York, there would be more than he expected or knew about. He'll never be comfortable with that.
"That money is hanging over his head," Pendleton added. "A lot of guys say, 'I've got to live up to that,' instead of 'They signed you to play your game.'"
Maybe there was some truth to Pendleton's words, or maybe McCann just needed a longer adjustment period than most. Perhaps he's having a better dialogue with new Yankees hitting coach Jeff Pentland than he did with Kevin Long, who was let go after the Bombers finished last season 11th in the AL in runs scored.
Regardless of the reasons, McCann has been a different player this season. In part thanks to manager Joe Girardi's smart decisions with days off, the energized McCann is on pace for his ninth 20-plus homer season and his most run production since driving in 94 back in 2009.
McCann went into Thursday's off day seventh among major league catchers in batting average (.264), tied for second in home runs (9), second in RBIs (38), and fourth in AL All-Star game balloting at the position.
The AL East-leading Yankees have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last two-plus weeks, winning seven of eight and 11 of their last 15. McCann has led the charge, batting .366 (15-for-41) with five homers and 13 RBIs in his last 13 games.
"He's been swinging the bat really, really well the past two and a half, three weeks," Girardi said of McCann following the Yankees' 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. "It's one of the big reasons we went and got him, because we thought his swing was built for this ballpark. It's shown up."
And as much as the Yankees want McCann to take advantage of the dimensions at Yankee Stadium -- 26 of his 32 homers as a Yankee have come in the Bronx -- he's swinging the bat like a true hitter as opposed to just a slugger, spraying the ball to all fields, often with authority.
That was never more evident than during Tuesday night's 6-1 win over visiting Washington. McCann worked over Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who is as tough a pitcher as there is anywhere, lashing a pair of opposite-field hits before breaking the game open in the seventh with a two-out, two-run single off hard-throwing lefty Matt Thornton.
And that type of hitting has been contagious. McCann wasn't the only high-priced Yankee to catch grief last season. When he wasn't struggling through injuries, Mark Teixeira looked done at the plate, while Carlos Beltran, who came over on a three-year, $45 million contract, was nothing short of a disaster.
Yet, all three, McCann, Teixeira and Beltran, plus the rejuvenated Alex Rodriguez, have responded this season, providing the Yankees with perhaps the most feared middle of the order in baseball.
"We're playing with a lot of confidence. All phases of the game we're playing really well and we have a tough lineup to pitch to," McCann told the YES Network after Tuesday's game.
And let's not forget McCann is also handling a pitching staff that, at least among the starters, really has just two sure things. While Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda have seemingly been in command every time they've taken the mound, the other three in the rotation -- up-and-down CC Sabathia, and projects Nathan Eovaldi and Adam Warren -- have benefited from the guidance of a veteran backstop who has calmed nerves just as effectively as he's called games.
McCann has been that guy. He's in a lot of ways become part of the face-by-committee of the post-Derek Jeter Yankees, a player who does his job while making sure everyone else is on the same page.
There's no telling where these Yankees will end up this season, but it is starting to look like they'll be a factor for the duration. They have been much better than many predicted, due in large part to their previously panned veterans getting back to performing like the back of their trading cards says they should.
McCann has been in the middle of all of it, providing the needed production at the plate, the consummate professionalism required behind it and the leadership that was thought to be lacking of late on a team that knew nothing but leaders for 20 years.
All of it made possible because McCann is finally convincing his critics that he's a New York kind of guy.
Read more columns by Jeff Capellini and follow him on Twitter at @GreenLanternJet
