AUSTIN ROMINE GIVES THE YANKS A BETTER CATCHER

Chris Stewart has filled in admirably behind the plate for the New York Yankees, but with the team making one last desperate run at a playoff spot; it is Austin Romine that gives the Bombers their best threat at catcher.

When the season opened, Francisco Cervelli was the Yankees primary backstop and Stewart was his backup.  Once Cervelli fell to injury, the team placed all of the catching responsibilities on Stewart’s shoulders.

Austin Romine was called up but his hitting clearly wasn’t ready for significant playing time at the big league level.

That has changed.

(In Photo: Chris Stewart)
Stewart had never been a full-time catcher, but was known for being a solid defensive-minded signal caller behind the plate.  Through the first three months of the season he even held his own as a hitter; batting .263.

Since July it is a different story, as the 31-year-old has hit just .174 over the last two months.

In the meantime, Romine has done a complete turnabout.

He struggled through the first three months, hitting .145 through June 29^th.

(In Photo: Chris Stewart)
It’s almost as if Stewart said “tag, you’re it” on July 1^st.  Since then, the 25-year-old is hitting .321 and has displayed a gun for an arm behind the plate.  With runners in scoring position, Romine is hitting .269 while Stewart ranks near the bottom of the team at .224.

The Yankees have now reached their most critical point in the season.  Sitting 5 ½ games out of a playoff spot with 29 games remaining means that every game is basically a playoff game.  Every day the Bombers need to field the nine players who best give them an opportunity to win.  There is no room for failure.

With 17 games remaining against the teams that sit ahead of them in the AL East, the club still controls its fate.

The stretch run officially begins with a three-game set against the Orioles on Aug 30^th.

If manager Joe Girardi wants to have his best lineup for the final month, he has to make Austin Romine his primary catcher.  Any loyalties to a veteran player or token starts as a way of saying “thanks for holding down the fort” that might be directed to Stewart need to be set aside for the time being.  We need a pedal-to-the-metal mentality.  Put the blinders on, give the binder full of situational statistics to the Salvation Army or the Kidney Foundation, and simply put your best available players at each position around the diamond.

That means put Austin Romine behind the plate and leave him there. 

We have no choice.


    
--Steve Skinner, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1

 

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