Yankees-Red Sox. And A-Rod

The Yanks have finally realized that they need to beat the Red Sox to win the division. About time. The scary thing is that the Yanks are only 2-8 against them so far this year and lead them in the division by 4.5 games. The Yanks have played some great baseball so far this year.

A-Rod hit a huge home run in the 15th to win it. Which leads to this post focusing mostly on A-Rod and his year so far. He's still hitting home runs and driving in runs at his usual pace. But, his batting average is far lower than usual.

Usually, the first thing I look at his a guy's BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) and his Line Drive Percentage. If the BABIP is unusually low and his LD% is near his career average it's most likely that the guy has just gotten unlucky all year. This is the case with A-Rod. His BABIP is .266 compared to a career average of .320. His LD% is right at 17% which is right near his career average of 18%. The little drop is not nearly enough to warrant an average drop of that magnitude (A-Rod has a career .304 mark). So in conclusion, there is not much to worry about there. He's bound to start getting lucky. And when that happens, the average will rise.

A-Rod brings more to the table than just his own statistics, though. Since his return from the DL on May 8th, Mark Teixeira has improved dramatically. The added line-up protection has given Tex much better pitches to hit. I'm not going to go into all the statistics because I don't feel like figuring them out, but the improvement was pretty dramatic.

Another thing about A-Rod that I've noticed his is personality this year. He is so much more relaxed. I think he's removed most of the other distractions from his mind and his just focusing on having fun playing baseball. Last night the camera showed him and Tex joking around and A-Rod laughing pretty heartily during the 14th inning. In previous years, A-Rod probably would have been quiet and reserved, if not off by himself in the dugout. But not this year. And then he won the game with a monster shot in the 15th. I feel like the new A-Rod is much more relaxed and that's going to be what allows him to be clutch. I know I'm going to sound crazy, but if/when the Yankees make the playoffs this year, I feel as though A-Rod is going to have a monster year. And I'm going to say it's simply because the man simply learned how to relax and enjoy himself.