Yankee Talk: Rivalry Edition – Left with a problem

Yanks problems with southpaws problem

NEW YORK – While you are always looking to win today, when you are the Yankees, you are always looking ahead to the future.

In this case, October.

Judging by the results from this season, it is very easy to foresee potential danger ahead for the defending world champions the moment they attempt to pursue those final 11 wins.

Listen, Red Sox starter Jon Lester is good enough to shut down any offense when he has his good stuff as he did yesterday, throwing 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only four hits his team’s 2-1 victory to split the wraparound four-game series.

However, the long-term problems exist of how the good (or even not so good) left-handed pitching has been able to handcuff the Yankees offense to where they seem to be on the defensive before the game ever begins.

In past years, seeing a left-hander would not faze the Yankees at all. They would have a multitude of hitters in their lineup that not only good, but also prolific to where they would not have to take a seat on the bench. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, two members of last year’s squad, were known for their ability to hang in against a southpaw and have success.

Such numbers have yet to translate to this season’s team as numerous players have put up incredibly feeble numbers to the put where Joe Girardi has to juggle his lineup considerably to give his team a good chance to win.

While Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher are doing their fair share against southpaws, the performances of Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Lance Berkman border on the obscene, with numbers suggesting they are nothing more than automatic outs.

To illustrate, Brett Gardner’s OPS against left-handed pitching (.739) is higher than that of Rodriguez (.677), Granderson (.518) and Berkman (.551) by a sizeable amount given similar sample sizes. This problems negates the ability of Girardi to use his “A” lineup, especially come October.

One look at yesterday’s lineup showed a bottom of the lineup consisting of Marcus Thames (a beast against southpaws, hitting .332), Austin Kearns and Curtis Granderson.

Granderson had a career reputation for his inability to hit southpaws before joining the Yankees and there was a belief the coaching staff could correct those flaws.

None of that has happened. His incredibly bad .183 average last year has marginally improved to .a still awful 206 in 2010, not good enough by any measure to justify his place in the lineup.

The big at-bat in yesterday’s game came with him at the plate against Lester with the bases loaded and no outs. Needing a fly ball to the outfield or a groundball to drive home a run, Granderson did neither. Instead, he produced an unproductive out, striking out swinging in an inning as the Red Sox held the Yankees scoreless.

We don’t want to beat up on Granderson, but the smart money is that either Damon or Matsui would have had a more proficient at-bat in that situation.

This becomes an issue in eight weeks, with the American League playoff field has a tough left-hander the Yankees would have to contend with in a series. Texas has Cliff Lee and C.J Wilson. Tampa Bay has David Price. Chicago has John Danks and to a lesser extent Mark Buehrle (though against the Yankees, he is 1-7 with 6.68 ERA). And as long as they remain in the race, Boston has Lester.

By coincidence, this week begins stretch of four consecutive games in which the Yankees will face a left-hander. CJ Wilson and Cliff Lee start for Texas in the upcoming two-game series that begins Tuesday, followed by Bruce Chen of the Royals on Thursday night.

The pitchers force the Yankees to change the configuration of their lineup. While Thames is great against lefties, he is a liability in the outfield defensively. His only suitable position is DH. Taking Granderson out of the lineup shifts Gardner from left field to centerfield and moves Austin Kearns into the lineup, who despite ability to put up a professional at-bat and play the outfield to quality, is not as good defensively compared to the ground Gardner and Granderson combined can cover when they are both out there.

If Granderson could just be an average hitter against lefties, none of this would be issue. The fact he along with Berkman (despite being a switch hitter) simply are utterly inept causes a trickledown effect the Yankees now have to deal with.

Not having the DH available to Posada brings worse defense behind the plate and also does not allow the older Jeter, Rodriguez or even Teixeira to get even a half day off.

The Yankees hope they are not “left” holding the bag at the end of the season.