Yankees Captain Derek Jeter Facing Extra-Base Blackout
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Two doubles, no triples, no dingers. Is Derek Jeter's 2011 power outage here to stay?
"When you look at the numbers, you say, 'Where are the extra-base hits?'" Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long said on Tuesday. "That's probably the one part of this whole thing where you say, 'We can get better there. We need to get a little bit better there.'"
After hitting .270 in 2010, one of the big topics this spring was Jeter's new approach at the plate. His numbers are actually down from last year, though manager Joe Girardi was quick to defend his legendary shortstop.
"The bottom line is he is getting his hits," Girardi said. "He is finding ways to get his hits and that's the important thing."
24 out of his 26 knocks have been singles. Jeter, 48 hits away from the magic number 3,000, is batting just .250 this season. So sure, he's getting his hits -- in only one-quarter of his at-bats.
"I think if it goes on for three or four months, that would be alarming," said Girardi. "It's still early, and you are talking about a guy who plays every day and gets 600 at-bats. I don't want to judge a guy with one-sixth of his at-bats. Maybe he won't put up 40 doubles, but he has been getting his hits."
Jeter's merely trying to tune out the criticism. He went 1-for-4 in the Yankees' loss to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.
"I come to the stadium and I don't try to think about what already happened," Jeter said. "I can't change the first month of the season."
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