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It's time. As much as we all hoped that this was going to remain a thing, it's clear that Yangervis Solarte has finally stopped being ridiculous and now he's just awful. I won't say "I told you so" because at some point I too hopped on the Solarte Hype Train, but this is why I resisted for so long in the first place. Condolences to those who had him written into the 2015 starting lineup, but I am here to ask the Yankees to send him down to Triple-A so someone more useful might get a shot.
Still not convinced? Solarte hit .303/.404/.461 in the month of April and it was pretty awesome. He hit .362/.400/.574 in the first half of May, but since then, only .196/.280/.286–now that's ugly. And he hasn't even played in the last two games.
I think we've spent enough time waiting and hoping that Solarte would come back to life, and I think Joe Girardi has too. It appears that the Yankees have been using Solarte in a platoon since June 12th. Since that date, he's made six starts at third base and exactly one of them was against a right-handed starting pitcher. Despite Solarte being a switch-hitter, Kelly Johnson has taken over the reigns as the left-handed bat in the platoon, and he has made the most of it by hitting .286/.400/.500 in 10 starts at third base against only right-handed pitchers. Meanwhile, Solarte has hit a meager .074/.242/.074 while stuck as the right-handed bat.
In a way, he's kind of getting the scraps. Solarte has been much stronger against right-handed pitching (133 wRC+) than left-handed pitching (64 wRC+), yet he's only allowed to start against lefties. His struggles in June (44 wRC+) is likely what led Girardi to lean harder on Johnson, despite the latter having a weaker platoon against righties (93 wRC+). In fact, Johnson actually has a 113 wRC+ against lefties, so if they don't trust Solarte against righties anymore, they might as well do away with the platoon and just let Johnson play everyday.
I mean, if they're really into this idea of a platoon, then at least get someone up here who can actually hit lefties, because Solarte isn't that guy. Bring up a right-handed bat like Scott Sizemore or even Zelous Wheeler because right now, using Solarte as a right-handed bat is a waste of time.
Yes, it sucks that Yangervis Solarte is terrible, but this was what was expected. What he did for this team in the first month and a half of the season is the real surprise. He was great, and it's too bad it wasn't real, but you shouldn't get attached. Prospects will break your heart and he wasn't even a prospect. Letting go should be easy. Still, he was much better than Eduardo Nunez.