Joe Girardi, Navigating Through The Storm

The New York Yankees are showing signs of turning the corner after struggling with inconsistency early in the season. Joe Girardi has seen this forecast before as the team’s manager and it’s no surprise that he’s been able to navigate his ballclub through the storm once again. It comes with the territory of being manager of the Yankees.

The Yankees find themselves currently on top of their division and in the midst of a six-game winning streak. That type of momentum wasn’t the case a month ago when the team was struggling to stay afloat. The hitting has come around since then and they are no longer just waiting for the big home run to bail them out of trouble. The starting pitching that was so inconsistent at the beginning of the season has stabilized since the return of Andy Pettitte. The bullpen has picked up the pace since losing David Robertson for a few weeks and Mariano Rivera for the season due to injuries.

For most baseball teams that struggle, when it rains it pours. However, for the Yankees it doesn’t just pour, it’s more of a tropical storm bordering on hurricane watch. It comes with the territory in New York . Girardi knew this would be the case when he accepted the job heading into the 2008 season and he’s embraced the challenge every year since.

One look at the Yankees roster and it’s easy to conclude that it was inevitable before they started playing better baseball. The lineup is too good. The pitching is too talented. The wallets are too deep. It’s those reasons that have also prevented Girardi from perhaps getting the fair amout of credit he deserves for his leadership of the team. His opposers will argue that he’s given a great team to compete with every year. However as professional sports has shown it’s viewers and fans every year, it still takes the right person to lead a team, no matter how much talent is on it. Girardi continues to show he’s the right person.

The players respect Girardi’s leadership and if they didn’t, then the win-loss record would clearly reflect otherwise. The Yankees are winning ballgames now, however there will come a point in the season again when the bright skies will give way to dark clouds. It happens. At least the Yankees have the right person in place to navigate them through the storm.