Thursday, May 28, 2009

Matsui on the Rise

Well A.J. Burnett got his first win last night since April 14 (that's a 3-5 count against Pavano now) and the Yankees moved into a tie with the Sox for first after Boston pitchers forgot they to throw the ball to their catcher. But I think the biggest thing to come out Texas for the Yanks is Hideki Matsui finding his stroke again.

As he gets older, Matsui has become much more streaky at the plate. There are times when he is the most dangerous hitter on the Yankees and others when he just looks completely done. He had been pretty spotty for about a week, but after a RBI double that hit the top of the wall on Tuesday, and a two-home run night yesterday, he is starting to look a little like his old self.

Matsui needs to find his stroke if he plans on getting continued at bats. With Posada coming back at on Friday and Xavier Nady looking to rejoin the team soon, the DH spot will need to get spread around for other players who are just as incapable of contributing on the field.

With a healthy Matsui swinging the bat well though, the Yankees will be able to put together what is likely to be their best lineup this season when they arrive in Cleveland, and with Xavier Nady coming back soon as well, they will have a strong bench as well.

Now if only they would finally cut Jose Veras and Angel Berroa...

2 comments:

Dennis said...

He's certainly had a good few days, but I wouldn't call him healthy. Did you see that home run trot, I thought they were going to need to bring him a walker at second base.

The guy can still hit, no doubt, but I can't see him playing the outfield. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on the DL when a few guys come back.

Peter said...

I dont think he needs to hit the DL... yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he went on at some point this season, but right now I think he is fine.

By healthy I mean he could DH on a fairly regular basis. He will never play the outfield again and honestly I would be slightly surprised if he came back to play baseball at all next season.