"Alex will be in Baltimore," Joe Girardi said. "Unless something happens overnight, we expect him to be in (the lineup)."
(Quote courtesy of Blogging the Bombers, Mark Feinsand's Yankee Blog - check it out here.
Girardi went on to say he's excited to get his cleanup hitter back. He said it seems like the Yankees are making a huge trade. I completely agree with this. The guys hitting in the four spot have been serviceable - Matsui did alright, and Swisher enjoyed some early success - but Alex is the rock in the four spot.
I don't think any of us could doubt the importance of A-Rod's impact on the lineup. Not only is he a great hitter, but his mere presence makes the lineup more formidable. For the first month of the season, the Yankees have had a virtual black hole in the eight and ninth spots in the order. With A-Rod back in, he gets rid of a huge part of that vacuum. Yes, the ninth spot will go to Cervelli or Cash, and they're not going to hit the cover off the ball, but you'll give up the ninth hole.
One of the guys this should help out is Mark Teixeira. He's really been struggling early on - he's hitting .198 and only has fifteen RBI - and has looked overmatched on every single off-speed pitch this year. Of course, Yankee fans have expected more from this guy. I think he's been putting some extra pressure on himself with A-Rod out of the lineup. Hopefully, he'll start to get some more protection in the lineup and start producing like we expect him too (even though Matsui and Cano aren't bad protection.)
The Yankees and O's start their three game series tonight at 7:05 PM, and you can catch the game on YES. I'll have a game preview later.
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