Is Jacoby Ellsbury Already Failing?

Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t Look Now, but Jacoby Ellsbury is a bust!

Ellsbury is hitting an anemic .118 in the spring so far. He has 6 strikeouts in 22 at-bats. He is still flying under the radar right now because everyone is talking about Masahiro Tanaka and the rest of the new Yankees. However, if he does not start hitting soon, Yankee fans could be on his case by his first regular season at-bat.

Ellsbury’s signing was really where the Yankees showed Robinson Cano the door. The 7-year, $153 million dollar contract was actually relatively close to what the team wanted to sign Cano for. Instead of one of the best second basemen of all-time, the Yankees went ahead with an injury-plagued outfielder that relies on his legs to give teams value and just turned 30. Of course, he won’t be hitting .118 forever, but I hope the Yankees realize what they paid for.

When Ellsbury is on the field, he is great. He’s a career .297 hitter with a .350 OBP and can steal bases with the best. Unfortunately, Ellsbury isn’t on the field all that often. He’s had one complete season since 2009. He isn’t injured as often as Carl Pavano was, but he cannot be injured his first year if he wants Yankee fans to respect him.

Ellsbury has a clean slate in New York. He is a former Sox player, but he was never very involved in the rivalry. As long as he gets on base for all the Yankees power behind him in the lineup to drive him in, he will be left alone. If Ellsbury has an April that in any way resembles his spring training, it could ruin his year. It’s amazing how the first month of the season impacts a player’s psyche for the following five. No player wants the Bronx against them, especially this early in a contract. Ellsbury needs to hit the ground running immediately. Welcome to New York.