Cano?

Robinson Cano is a confusing player.

He has a great, smooth swing and at times looks like a world class hitter.
However other times he looks lost, impatient and out of his league.

It?s becoming very hard to judge him, because his numbers year to year are so different.

Really, his numbers within the season are also a bit strange and he's still struggling with men on base. He hit's .380 with the bases empty and .412 when there's a runner on first, but that drops to .231 with a runner on second and down to .186 with RISP. Still, despite those terrible stats he's still fourth on the team in RBI?s and third in Runs.

Another strange occurrence: he?s hitting .407 in day games (54 AB?s) and just .260 at night (77 AB?s).

He's a hard player to figure out and he's slumping bad right now, but when that swing is working he puts on a clinic. As a team (aside from Damon) the Yankees numbers with RISP need to go up but Cano's numbers, I think, are the most surprising.

I like where he's hitting in the lineup lately. The 7 spot is a good place for him. Some people point to his average and want him behind Matsui or A-Rod, but I don't think he's suited (yet) for that role. He needs to become a better all around hitter.

Situational Struggles

The Yankees currently have the second most hits in the league, yet they can't seem to get a hit when it counts. Here are some stomach turning stats from baseball-reference.com:

Yankees RISP:
.223 Avg, .320 OBP (42 for 188, 55 RBI)


Yankees with runners on first and second:
.204 Avg, .315 OBP (11 for 54, 7 RBI)


Yankees with the bases loaded:
.071 Avg, .063 OBP (1 for 14, 5 RBI)

Now compare that to the hottest team in baseball:

Red Sox RISP:
.290 Avg, .419 OBP (51 for 176, 81 RBI)


Red Sox with runners on first and second:
.317 Avg, .414 OBP (19 for 60, 25 RBI)


Red Sox with the bases loaded:
.286 Avg, .464 OBP ( 8 for 28, 22 RBI)


The Yankees get runners past first base, and the offense shuts down. They hit .328 with a runner on first, but .221 when that runner is on second. The Yankees are hitting, but not when it counts most. Their individual averages look good, but the situational averages are terrible.

Look at Cano, he's having a great season hitting .380 on the year. However, if you break that down you'd see that he's hitting .192 with RISP (5 for 26). And when there is more than one runner on the bases, Cano is 1 for 15.

They don?t need to become the most clutch team in baseball, but an improvement has to happen in order for the Yankees to have a chance. Are they looking to hit home runs? Is it just good pitching? Is it just a phase in this long season? Who knows, but hopefully they break out of this pattern sooner rather than later.

Coming Around?

I remember last year, I tracked Abreu's numbers through the first couple months. He was hitting third in the order, but he just looked lost. It was clear that the Yankees needed him to figure it out in order to succeed.

This year, it's Cano and Giambi that the Yankees need to start hitting. Lately, they've been showing signs of life.

Cano in the last 6 games is hitting .364 and sporting a .391 OBP and an impressive .727 SLG. Yankee fans have to hope this keeps up. If Cano starts turning it on, things will improve quickly for the Yankees.
Also, a sort of pointless stat, but Cano is hitting .538 in the 5th inning of games. In 13 ABs during the 5th inning, he has 7 hits.

Giambi has also looked better. In his last 5 games, he's hitting .333 with a .421 OBP and a whooping .933 SLG.

They're both small sample sizes, but the results are the same. If these guys keep it going, the rest of the league will have to watch out. The Yankees will start putting up some powerful offensive numbers.