Yankees Player of the Week | Week 3
This week was a tough one for the Yankees. They finished 2-3 against perhaps the 2 best teams in the AL in Texas and Detroit. If they can win today and take 2 out of 3 against Detroit going .500 against these tough teams is not to bad especially when you consider the horrendous starting pitching the Yankees have had. This is the weakest group of candidates for player of the week so far but I was able to come up with 4 candidates. They are Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, and CC Sabathia.
The case for Jeter – This is the 3rd consecutive Jeter has been nominated for Yankees Player of the Week but he has yet to win as Hiroki Kuroda and Mark Teixeira won the first 2 weeks. This is odd as he has been by far the best player on the Yankees so far this year. Jeter was outstanding against Texas but has been held hitless against Detroit so far. For the week Jeter batted .400 with 1 RBI. His signature game was on Monday when he went 4-5, scored 2 runs, and knocked in a run.
The case for Rodriguez – Rodriguez played a huge role in both of the Yankee wins this week. On Monday against Texas Rodriguez hit a 3 run home run in the 5th inning that blew the game open. In Friday’s win against Detroit Rodriguez went 3-4, with a HR, and 2 RBI. Overall for the week Rodriguez hit .294, with 2 HRs, and 5 RBI.
The case for Swisher - Swisher best game came yesterday as he tried to lead a Yankees comeback by hitting 2 HR’s. He had a pretty consistent week hitting .300 with 2 HR’s and 3 RBI. Most weeks Swisher would not be candidate, but this week was not a strong week for candidates.
The case for Sabathia - CC pitched a very good game Monday against Texas. Sabathia let up 2 soft runs in the 7th that did not make his line look as good as it was. CC did not allow a run from the 2nd through the 5th. Sabathia pitched 8 strong innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs, and striking out 8. Sabathia did all this against a potentTexas lineup in their hitter friendly ballpark. CC gave the Yankees a great chance to win the series, but the Yankees did not take advantage. The Yankees can use another start like this today against Detroit.
The winner this week goes to Alex Rodriguez as he was a key player in both of the Yankee wins this week. Hopefully Rodriguez can keep it going because Robinson Cano is still struggling and Mark Teixeira has been up and down. It was very close between Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Derek Jeter so cast your vote in the poll. Hopefully next week the candidates are a little bit stronger.
Posted on April 29, 2012, in Player of the Week and tagged Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
I agree with your choice this week. I also went with A-Rod.
FYI voters CC’s performance today counts for next week’s edition not this week’s.
Tough call between Jeter and Arod, I went with Jeter.
I know you said today doesn’t count but CC had a heck of a week. While the rest of the starters have ranged from mediocre to atrocious, he turned in back-to-back strong 8 inning performances to beat to tough lineups at Texas and vs Detroit.
While tomorrow is the last day of the month, I don’t think anyone can argue that Derek Jeter has been Player of the Month. His BA is nearly 100 points higher than the next regular starter on the team, hitting .386/.421/.591/1.012. Granderson has picked up where he did from last yr and Swisher has had a strong month as well and was showing a willingness to hit the ball hard in both gaps rather than try to bull everything.
The 3-4-5 of Cano, ARod & Tex have not gotten hot yet. ARod has shown some flashes. Considering their starters have a 6.08 ERA, the 3 thru 5 hitters haven’t gotten going, and the April schedule was tough, they have to be pleased to be 12-9. But it’s time to get things going and to get hot in May & June.
I voted for A-Rod this week, but it was tough picking him over CC with 2 wins.