THE YANKEES ARE NOT BRONX BUNTERS?

It is the ultimate sacrifice a major league baseball player can make for his team, yet less and less batters in the American League are asked to partake.  Bunting is when the batter taps the ball in fair territory, provoking infielders, including the catcher and pitcher, to race to the slow roller and speedily throw to first base for the safe out while the lead runner advances.  Sounds like a no-brainer but according to Joe Girardi big run producers like Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano will never be called to “sacrifice” their big bat for the big bunt. 

In a press conference earlier this month, Girardi stated that bunting was not the team’s approach, read HERE.  “We’re not the Bronx Bunters, and we really never have been. The one thing you can concentrate on is really good at-bats and making sure you grind out your at-bats. If you have to move a runner over, make sure you hit the ball to the other side or pull it or try to drive the ball. Take the extra base when you can. We’re not going to change our philosophy.”

In the off season, $180 million Mark Teixeira claimed he would lay down some bunts in 2012 season (HERE), yet despite honing his bunting skills in the off season, he hasn’t laid down a bunt since high school.  Looking to beat the shift, Teixeira still has not ruled out bunting, but he may be overruled by his manager who feels the team does not have the speed nor is it something that is part of the day-to-day routine for his players.  The Yankees are not, after all, a team designed for small bats.  Perhaps when Brett Gardner comes back, one day, Girardi will change his mind at least as far as Gardner is concerned. 

The National League traditionally has utilized the bunt more often than the American League mainly because the pitcher bats.  However, if the game is close and you are trying to win, moving the runner over into scoring position may just be the strategy you need to jump-start your offense.  A win is a win, no matter how you slice it.  And if Alex Rodriguez steps up to the plate, 0-10 over the last two games, and Curtis Granderson is on first base with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, I think you bunt to put yourself in a better position to win.  Frankly, as Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon clearly stated (read HERE) earlier this year, “When you're trying to win a game the purpose is to win the game.”   

Joe Girardi may want to re-think the old fashion bunt these days particularly as he relies on some young, minor league relief in Eduardo Nunez, Steve Pearce, and Jayson Nix, who have the speed but not always the strong bat to bolster the Yankee offense.  If it is good enough for the Captain who leads the American League in hits, it should also be good enough for the rest of his team no matter their salary or slugging ability.  When the time is right, bunt!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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