And Who's Not!

Jesus Montero, the highly touted prospect known for his bat is struggling this spring.  He is batting .222 with only 2 doubles this spring.  Montero is known for his power numbers but has not hit a home run this spring.  The Yankees believe his low offensive numbers are due to him putting too much pressure on himself and it seems likely he may get optioned down to Triple- A.  Optioning him down actually will help him develop his offensive numbers since he will have an opportunity to start everyday rather than once or twice a week as the backup catcher to Martin.  It took Montero until June of last year to get his offensive numbers going, but once he did they skyrocketed and he hit .351 during the second half of the season. 

Posada seems to be having a difficult time adapting to the DH role.  The days of Jorge Posada playing catcher seem to be over, and he must find a way to be an effective DH.  Rumors around Spring Training show that Posada has spoken with Johnny Damon and David Ortiz about how to make this switch.  Hopefully they give him their keys to success because Posada is only batting .231 this spring.

The Yankees know what they are getting with Ramiro Pena.  He has a great glove, but very troubling offensive numbers that seem to be getting worse.  In 2010 he hit only .227, and many of his outs seemed to come during important bats in the game.  His Mexican League Winter Ball numbers weren’t better, as he only batted .233 and this spring got even worse, with his .171 batting average.  He is now looking at being replaced by Eduardo Nunez for that utility infielder spot.  I think it’s fair to say, we may have seen the last of Pena.

Andruw Jones was signed this season to replace Marcus Thames as the 4^th outfielder.  There is no chance of Jones being cut, but he is doing awful this spring.  He has more strikeouts (8) than hits (7) this spring his average is down to .219.  At the very least, he is still a terrific outfielder and the Yankees won’t have to try and use Nunez as a backup outfielder.

Swisher has surprised me with a slow start this spring.  All I heard during the offseason and beginning of spring training was that Swish was focused and working on his batting with Kevin Long as well as plate discipline.  That has yet to be seen as Swisher is batting only .255 with a dismal .280 on base percentage with 9 Strikeouts…. So much for plate disclipline.  At least with Swish, you can feel confident he will work hard to get it together and have another good season.