Alex Rodriguez opened his 2009 campaign with a bang, sending
the first pitch he saw into the stands at Camden Yards. And with that
one swing, the baseball world begin to think the three-time MVP would
coast to another impressive offensive season and possibly an MVP
campaign.
But then reality set in for the third basemen trying to
make a speedy recovery from hip surgery that ended his spring training
early. A-Rod's return hit a wall after that majestic home run and he
slumped early on, going 3-for-30 in his first seven games before going
yard in four straight from May 16 to May 19.
The Yankees went away from their preseason plan put in place by Dr. Marc Philippon and Dr. Mark Lindsay
to give A-Rod adequate rest and five to eight games off during his
first 45 games. Instead, the third baseman played in 38 consecutive
games upon his return, starting all of them.
With fatigue and the
lingering effects of a surgically-repaired hip becoming an evident
problem, A-Rod hit just nine home runs, 26 RBIs and a .212 average in
those 38 games.
After Brian Cashman made it clear to Joe Girardi
that Rodriguez would receive regular rest beginning with the late June
series against the Marlins, A-Rod is back to being himself at the plate
and in the field.
In the 44 games since taking back-to-back
starts off in Florida against the Marlins, Rodriguez has 12 home runs
and 37 RBIs with a .293 average and .400 on-base percentage. In those
games the Yankees have gone 30-14, and the team is 54-28 in games A-Rod
has played in since he returned against Baltimore on May 8.
Of
his 21 homers this season, 12 have either tied a game or given the
Yankees the lead and none were bigger than the ones off Junich Tazawa
and Jon Lester over the weekend. Rodriguez's two timely home runs
against the Red Sox helped extend the Yankees' lead in the AL East and
ended his personal home run drought of 72 at-bats without a longball.
But
with a .257 average and an unusally low amount of doubles for the
cleanup hitter this season, he has yet to fully return to his dominant
self. His recent string of clutch hits and solid at-bats is a sign that
he is closing in on becoming the true force in the Yankees lineup once
again. And once that happens, the 1-2 punch of Mark Teixeira and A-Rod will only get better. If that's possible.