Alex Rodriguez is finally looking like the Arod of previous postseasons, as he has now gone 0-8 with 6 strikeouts in the first two World Series games.  Arod was having a phenomenal postseason leading up to the World Series, batting .438 in the previous two series with 5 HRs and 12 RBIs.  It looks like the pressure has finally caught up to Arod and he needs to try and get back in the groove he was in during the ALDS and ALCS.  At the very least Arod needs to put the ball in play.  Six strikeouts shows that he is not locked in at all and after hitting so well in the first two series it seems like he is trying too hard.  The longer he struggles, the more the pressure will build on him so Arod really needs to relax up at the plate and not try and do too much.  He could turn all of it around with one good swing of the bat, so don’t count him out of this series yet.

With A-Rod off to such a great start to the post season Yankees’ fans need to bitch about someone else. That could wind up being Mark Teixeira if he doesn’t start hitting the ball soon. He has played in all 7 post season games for the Yankees and he is only 4 for 30 (.133 avg, .468 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. Lucky for him the rest of the Yankees’ lineup has been really hitting the baseball well.

Every team that called the Yankees in the off-season were interested in Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy but the Yankees refused to part with them….even for Johan Santana. Cano has played the best of this bunch but that’s not saying much. He has played in 147 games for the Yanks this season and he is 143 for 551 (.260 avg, .690 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 13 homers and 61 RBIs. He has recently been benched. Melky Cabrera has been even worse than Cano this season and it earned him a demotion to AAA at one point. Cabrera has played in 119 games this season for the Yankees and he is 97 for 401 (.242 avg, .633 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 8 homers, 36 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Cabrera projects as nothing more than a #4 outfielder down the road. Phil Hughes was supposed to be one of the Yankees’ best starting pitchers this season but it never happened. He has been injured most of the season and when he has pitched he has truly been awful. Hughes has started 6 games for the Yankees this season and he is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. Ian Kennedy was also a untouchable in the offseason but I don’t know why based on how he has pitched this season. Kennedy has pitched in 10 games (9 starts) for the Yankees this season and he is 0-4 with a 8.17 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. The Yankees have to be careful in the offseason this time around as teams will still ask for these guys but they will be offering much, much less for them.

The Yankees are sitting in 3rd place in the American League East right now with a 50-45 record which has them 6 games behind the Red Sox. They are 5.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card. This is quite amazing as the Yanks have been without A-Rod, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada for chunks of time this season. But the bigger issue has been underperforming veterans like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. Jeter will need to snap out of his funk if the Yanks are to make a legit run at the playoffs. He is hitting .284 this season with 52 runs scored, 5 homers, 42 RBIs and 5 stolen bases and that’s not up to his standards. Jorge Posada has never been right physically this season and it has hurt the Yankees offense as he is hitting .272 with 17 runs scored, 3 homers and 22 RBIs. The Yankees refused to part with either Robinson Cano or Melky Cabrera in the off-season so they need them to prove that it was the right thing to do in the 2nd half. Cano is 85 for 346 (.246 avg) with 36 runs scored, 6 homers and 38 RBIs. Melky Cabrera has been terrible with the bat this season as he is 78 for 323 (.241 avg) with 30 runs scored, 8 homers, 34 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. The Yankees will need to trade for another bat with Hideki Matsui likely done for the season.

The New York Yankees need Melky Cabrera to start hitting again soon or they need to replace him in CF. Cabrera played in 28 games in June and he was 21 for 102 (.206 avg, .544 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Cabrera is starting to show that he’s overextended as a starting outfielder. He has played in 83 games this season for the Yankees and he is 71 for 290 (.245 avg, .660 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Yankees also might look to trade Cabrera in an effort to find some more starting pitching.