By the numbers

After the Yankees' 13-3 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles today (first sweep in 23 years? not in the House that Jeter built, Bird-Boys), I thought it was a good time to look over the numbers for two of the Yankees' biggest batting contributors, Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui.

Rodriguez, who got off to a very slow start this year after also missing some time for his injured hip, is hitting .287, which is low for him (especially after he was doing so well in odd-numbered years, winning the MVP in 2005 and 2007 with sparkling stats). But considering how poorly A-Rod was doing earlier this season, his recent resurgence is a great sign...and perhaps (knock on wood) an omen that he may actually be able to contribute to the Yankees' postseason this year.

A-Rod's tenure in New York has been known for two things: not hitting in the clutch, and not hitting in the playoffs. This year, he's taken care of that clutch problem. Gone are the perfect numbers, him as a porous teammate; here now is less-than-gaudy statistics, but a definitive swing toward a winning record since he's come back. (The Yankees are 78-37 since his return, and 14-15 before it. And Mark Teixeira started hitting the ball once he had A-Rod's shadow on deck.) Rodriguez's reaction (a smashed bat on the ground) to leaving men on base at the end of a game, when he flew out on a popup (or thought he did, if not for the Yankees playing the hapless Mets), shows he's really starting to care about quality instead of just the image.

Rodriguez's .287 batting average is actually third-highest on this slugging Yankees team (where all good players suffer from somebody in the lineup getting one of the three outs per inning); his 84 RBI is second; and his 25 home runs are third, despite missing 30 games.

Remember, this is a guy who didn't break .200 until 14 games into the season, and was batting .207 as late as the end of June. His recent resurgence has been great, and with 18 games left in the regular season, he can still do some damage. (And he hasn't had to sit out due to lingering injuries in a while.)

Hideki Matsui, on the other hand, presents a different sort of numbers game. Matsui has long been hobbled by knee problems and more, and this season he has yet to play an actual position; he's either the designated hitter or no hitter at all. At $13 million a year, you expect production from Godzilla, and he has provided: .271, 85 RBI, 24 bombs.

But Matsui's best nights (5 RBI last night, and 7 RBI in the 20-11 blast-fest against the BoSox) were both on nights when the score didn't really matter, and extra runs really weren't needed.

(I counted three games out of the whole season where Matsui's batting would have made the difference between winning and losing.)

Considering all the talent on the New York bench, you could argue that any of the Yankees could fill Matsui's shoes and do as he's done. He's a good player and a good part of the team, but he's not getting any healthier.

Matsui has the second-most RBI of all Yankees players (behind Teixeira) and the fourth-most home runs. But I think, when it comes to seeing who is putting more into the winning mix for the team, it's not even debatable.

Well, I think...let me get back to you in November.

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