Klapisch Digs In

Bob Klapisch (ESPN) has a great article out about the Yankees and their struggles this year. In it, he details a variety of problems (e.g. underachieving, hitting with RISP, etc.) that the club has encountered throughout the season, and speaks with an assortment of scouts, executives and people familiar with the team, so as to understand what the problems stem from. Two of the issues that Klapisch brings up include the loss of Joba Chamberlain and the loss of Joe Torre.

According to an anonymous “member of the organization,” the loss of Joba Chamberlain was a big mental blow for the Yankees. “That totally deflated everyone. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said this person to Klapisch. We often forget how important Joba has become to the Yankees organization. He’s a winning symbol for the team. He singlehandedly takes the pressure off of the offense when he’s on the mound and he does it in a way that Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte simply cannot. While the team has been able to get by without Joba in a practical sense (they’ve filled his rotation slot), the mental aspect of the injury has clearly taken its toll.

Also, Klapisch points out another issue that the Yankees have really struggled with all year and that’s hitting with RISP. This has clearly been the biggest problem for the team as the middle of the order (A-Rod, Giambi) just hasn’t gotten it done. A major league executive spoke with Klapisch and wondered if Joe Girardi’s managerial style could be considered the culprit. Here’s the text from the article.

In fact, one major league executive recently wondered out loud whether the Yankees’ inability to hit with runners in scoring position had more to do with Girardi’s uptight nature than with the advancing years of their core hitters. “That’s how [the Yankees] miss Torre,” he said. “He had the ability to calm everyone down, especially down the stretch.”

Girardi does seem like he’s wound pretty tight. The Yankees could be feeling the pressure in a way that they’re not used to under the Girardi regime. Torre kept everyone loose and the offense seemed to benefit from that, especially down the stretch. Maybe Girardi really scares A-Rod (or something, I don’t know), since he hit over .300 in 2006 with RISP and also hit .333 with RISP, last year. Let’s face it, A-Rod is a bit of a head case, so any changes in normalcy could hurt him. With Girardi, he has regressed in this situation. Joe kind of seems like a tweaker at times, so who knows how much this has effected Alex.

Either way, check out the entire Klapisch article. It’s a good one.