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The Yankees went 3–4 this week.
Hitters:
David Adams - B
.300/.300/.300, 2 K, 2 RBI
Notes: Adams' three-day return to the Yankees was highlighted by two meaningless RBI in a blowout game against the Rays. He has already been optioned back down to Triple-A to make way for Jayson Nix.
Robinson Cano - F
.160/.222/.200, 7 K, RBI
Notes: If the Yankees' best player is going to hit like this they don't have a chance to make the playoffs. Everyone can get off track at times, but this team needs Cano to be productive in some way at all times. The season lives and dies with him.
Luis Cruz - Incomplete
.000/.000/.000
Notes: The sub of the sub of the sub got injured this week and might not be seen again.
Brett Gardner - B+
.292/.346/.375, 5 K, SB
Notes: Gardner hasn't been hitting like he was for most of the first half, but he's still getting on base and being productive. If he can start stealing more bases he could be very valuable even as a streaky hitter.
Travis Hafner - F
.000/.111/.000, 2 K
Notes: Hafner has done nothing for a long time and if it wasn't for his recent injury it might be time to cut ties with him.
Derek Jeter - Incomplete
.500/.600/1.250, HR, RBI
Notes: In true Jeter fashion, he returned to the lineup and immediately produced with a home run on the first pitch he saw. Hopefully this performance wasn't a mirage and he can still hit with the best of them.
Brent Lillibridge - F
.190/.190/.238, 2 K, 3 RBI, SB
Notes: Lillibridge has been terrible with the bat, as expected, but he's been surprisingly adequate with the glove. At least he's providing some kind of value somewhere, but the Yankees are going to have to upgrade from him if they want to improve the offense.
Melky Mesa - A+
.333/.385/.500, 2 K, RBI
Notes: Melky Mesa has had a terrible season in Triple-A this year, but so far he's been not useless at the major league level. While the strikeouts will carry over, he has already drawn a walk in four games after only collecting seven in 65 games with Scranton. It's only a matter of time before pitchers figure him out, but let's hope he can do something helpful before then.
Eduardo Nunez - F
.143/.182/.286, 2 K, 2 RBI
Notes: Now that Jeter is back, Nunez can be moved into a reserve role where he might regain some kind of value. He isn't working out as an every day player, so hopefully he can be more useful when Girardi picks his spots.
Lyle Overbay - F
.174/.174/.174, 8 K
Notes: Overbay put up one of the least productive weeks of the season by accumulating only four singles in 23 at-bats. We know he can't hit lefties, but this goes beyond platooning and says that the Yankees need a better first baseman all together.
Austin Romine - A+
.500/.545/.800, 3 K, 2 RBI
Notes: Romine has actually been hitting since returning from the All-Star break. In his last four games he has five hits and three of them are doubles. Has Romine's bat finally woken up or is this just too small a sample size to take seriously?
Alfonso Soriano - A+
.308/.308/.538, HR, 4 RBI
Notes: Soriano's return to New York started off slow, but he finally got his first hit with the Yankees and then got three more in the same game. His home run and walk off hit were great to see, but he's going to have to hit consistently from here.
Chris Stewart - F
.071/.071/.143, 3 K, RBI
Notes: Stewart has been hitting like the player we all knew he was and he's actually started to lose playing time to Romine. Thankfully, Stewart no longer holds the title of 'best right-handed bat in the lineup' now that Soriano is on the team.
Ichiro Suzuki - C
.296/.296/.296, K, 2 RBI, SB
Notes: Ichiro has been hitting, but he hasn't been hitting well. He's been a straight up singles hitter, though he was able to drive in some runs and steal a base. Ichiro hasn't hit for much power this season, but it would be nice if he could manage something.
Vernon Wells - D-
.176/.286/.235, 3 K, RBI
Notes: Wells was productive for a little while, but now it looks like he's back to being useless. At this point there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to keep him on the team if the Yankees actually want to compete.
Pitchers:
Joba Chamberlain - A
0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, K, 2.0 IP
Notes: Joba has pitched decently in mop up, but that's not a very useful trait to have. He has no trade value, so the Yankees should really just cut ties with him and see if anyone has a chance of being better than terrible.
Preston Claiborne - A+
0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2 K, 3.1 IP
Notes: Claiborne was perfect this week, which is very important considering his recent struggles and the Joba Chamberlain's ineffectiveness. The Yankees need solid multi-inning middle relief help and Claiborne has offered that.
Phil Hughes - D-
4.66 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 5 K, 2 HR, 9.2 IP
Notes: Hughes pitched less than 10 innings between two starts this week, which is not a good sign. He was on a short leash in both his starts, but each time left the Yankees in a deficit. Two poor outings a week before the trade deadline is not the way you get value back for your team.
Shawn Kelley - C
3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K, HR, 3.0 IP
Notes: Kelley surrendered his first earned run of July this week, so he's been incredibly good for awhile. He, along with Preston Claibrone, offer some solid middle relief options that have made the bullpen the best part of the team.
Hiroki Kuroda - A+
0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 K, 7.0 IP
Notes: Kuroda had another solid outing this week as the real ace of the Yankees staff. He struggled a bit in June, but he's been back to his old self in July, something the Yankees desperately need.
Boone Logan - D
9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, HR
Notes: Logan had one bad outing and one good outing, but unfortunately the bad outweighed the good. His scoreless inning on the way to a bottom of the ninth walk off win was what made him useful this week.
Ivan Nova - B+
2.57 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 12 K, HR, 14.0 IP
Notes: Nova has given the Yankees some consistency since he returned from the disabled list. He hasn't always been shutdown, but he's provided some very good outings despite allowing a consistent amount of base runners.
Andy Pettitte - B-
3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K, HR, 6.0 IP
Notes: Compared to the way Pettitte has pitched the last few months, he had a good outing this season. The last time he only gave up two or fewer runs was in the beginning of June against the Mariners, so this was a big start for him.
David Robertson - A+
0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 5 K, 3.0 IP
Notes: Robertson has proved to be a shutdown reliever and he put that on display this week. The back end of the bullpen is the last thing the Yankees need to worry about going forward.
Mariano Rivera - A+
0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 2 K, 2 SV. 3.0 IP
Notes: Two saves and a win is a good week in the life of Mariano Rivera and he doesn't show signs of slowing down any time soon.
CC Sabathia - F
12.60 ERA, 2.40 WHIP, 6 K, 5.0 IP
Notes: CC found a new way to be awful this week when he managed to give up seven runs, six of which came in the second inning. He has been a liability for most of the season, but what do you do when your ace becoems your worst starting pitcher?
Adam Warren - F
6.75 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K, HR
Notes: Warren got the difficult job of cleaning up after CC Sabathia's poor start, but he couldn't fair any better. The game already seemed lost at that point, but James Loney's three-run home run proved to be critical when the Yankees mounted a failed comeback that could have been a one-run game.