The Yankees have played 28 games.
In 6 of those games, roughly a quarter of the games played, the Bombers have scored 7+ runs, logging nearly half of their league leading 45 HR in those 6 games.
That concerns me, though I know there's nothing to be done to change it, because this lineup looks more and more swing and miss.
Even Jorge Posada's doubles seem to need to go over the wall, and Derek Jeter is looking more and more like dead weight.
(Let me say this about Jeter: I still think he'll figure it out. He recognizes that there's a problem (in the article linked above, he said, "I think one thing you can’t do when you’re hitting is you can’t think. You have to go up there and you have to react. I think the first few weeks of the season, I was thinking a lot and thinking too much, trying to worry about too many different things, and that’s difficult to do"). While Kevin Long's first solution (eliminating Jeter's stride) didn't work because Jeter wasn't comfortable with it, that doesn't mean Jeter isn't still looking for answers.
I've used my interview shirt analogy before- I always wear a dark blue shirt on interviews because people have complimented me on how I look in it, so I know it looks good on me and it makes me feel comfortable. Feeling comfortable makes me relax so I can perform my best in that clutch situation. I think it's the same thing with Jeter and the new swing- it's not enough that the new swing produce a better result; Jeter has to believe in it and it has to produce. One of the two is a recipe for failure, especially for a player who plays the game by instinct and feel the way Jeter does.
Watch Jeter's ABs the next time you see a Yankee Classic and you'll notice there have subtle changes to his positioning throughout his career: he's changed the length of his stride, the positioning of his hands, and how close he stands to the plate. You don't make it to the threshold of 3000 hits without learning to make adjustments. Jeter will adjust.
But in the meantime, batting Derek Jeter at the top of the order is asinine. He's got to hit, or he's got to bat behind Russell Martin. If Joe Girardi doesn't have the authority in the clubhouse to do that, or if he simply doesn't think it's necessary, then Fire Joe Girardi. Derek Jeter and the pitching rotation are the two big issues for the Yankees this season, and the rotation looks great.)
At least Brett Gardner has started to work the kinks out; he's 7 for his last 16 with 8 BB (any week where you record a .500+ OBP is a good week), but that only raises his batting average to .211. He's got a long way to go.
So far this season, the Yankees have only been shut out twice, but they've been shut down a number of times by mediocre pitchers (Penny last night, Gavin Floyd, Ricky Romero, Scott Baker). To make it worse, they've blown a few winnable games with offensive offensive mistakes (Curtis Granderson laying down a sac bunt in the 9th inning so the pitcher could pitch to Mark Teixeira with first base open leaps to mind, as does Jorge Posada's baserunning exploits last night).
So how confident are you in the Yankees?