Yankees Editorial: Is Garrett Jones Undervalued?

Garrett Jones entered Sunday’s series finale v. the Tampa Bay Ray with the third-fewest at-bats of any player on the Yankees roster. In fact, he didn’t appear in any of the teams three games v. the Toronto Blue Jays to start the season and sat consecutive games v. the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.

However, in typical blue-collared fashion, Garrett Jones made the most of his opportunity when skipper Joe Girardi gave him the start in right field on Sunday, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a triple and two runs scored.

“It definitely feels great just to contribute to a win; just feel like you did something well for the day,” Jones told Mark Feinsand of the New York Dailey News. “It’s definitely something I’m just going to build on and be prepared when my number is called again.”

Obviously his big-time performance on Sunday wasn’t enough to keep him in the lineup, as Girardi elected to insert the struggling Carlos Beltran back into right field and into the Yankees lineup for their first game v. the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

Personally I feel as if Garrett Jones is undervalued in the Yankees organization. His .278 batting average is fourth best on the team behind Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury. His .316 OBP and .444 slugging percentage is significantly higher than Carlos Beltran’s numbers as well (.184/.238/.289). Sure, you can make the argument that Beltran has appeared in 23 more at-bats than Garrett Jones, but this is only because Girardi isn’t giving Jones the playing time he deserves.

What do you think Yankee fans? Let us know in the comments below.

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