It was about a year ago this time when the whispers about Derek Jeter began getting louder. That's the same Derek Jeter who's ba...
It was about a year ago this time when the whispers about Derek Jeter began getting louder. That's the same Derek Jeter who's batting .378 right now, who led off the bottom of the first inning Monday night with a home run to right field.
That's a hit that pretty much sums up the hottest hitter on the Yankees and suddenly a guy manager Joe Girardi has to wonder about finding time to rest.
The Yankees shortstop had just one extra-base hit through his first 10 games last season and would get only one more through May 6 -- both were doubles. He wasn't getting around on pitches, or so it looked. He was 36. He was ... would anyone dare utter, let alone whisper, "Done?"
This isn't one of those early-season, small-sample aberrations, just like his struggling start a year ago turned out to be nothing of the sort. Jeter is hitting, has been for going on a year now. And he's doing so in a way that serves as a warning for those quick to write off the Yankees captain.
First, what he's doing: Starting with Jeter's 3,000th career hit last July, the start of a five-hit day, he's batting .344 with seven home runs and 46 RBI. That's 75 games. And over the Yankees' past 162 games, of which Jeter played 123, he's batting .307 (170-553) with nine homers and 65 RBI.
And to hear Jeter's explanation, it all makes sense, including the games he missed.
"It was a blessing in disguise," Jeter says of spending three weeks on the disabled list last summer with a calf strain, returning less than a week before No. 3,000. "I got a chance to work on some things."
That included scrapping a strideless approach Jeter began 2011 with, thinking it would be a hedge against age sapping his quickness.
"I thought it would work," he says. "It didn't work. I just wasn't comfortable. Why did I try it? Because I wanted to do better."
The Yankees-centric website Riveraveblues.com broke down the balls Jeter hit through the middle of August last season. They found that during the first half of the season, nearly everything the right-hander hit in the air went to center and right fields, while his ground balls were much more evenly distributed around the diamond.
After he returned from the disabled list, the fly balls also were more evenly sprayed around, the most notable drive to left field the homer that was hit No. 3,000.
So, this year, with everything seemingly going right?
Hint: That first-inning homer last night.
"If you stay back, good things happen," he says.
Here's the breakdown of all the balls Jeter has put in play this season, excluding his one sacrifice bunt:
- Groundballs -- 12 to the left side, four up the middle,10 to the right side. That's right in line with last season.
- Line drives and fly balls to the outfield -- One to left, four to center, 11 to right. That's more like when things weren't going well last season.
Jeter insists it's merely a matter of being comfortable. That, he says, makes him believe he'll hit, even if he goes through a stretch without success.
Whatever the explanation, "Done" certainly doesn't appear to be part of the equation.
usetoday
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