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Yankees Editorial: Stephen Drew Continues to Struggle?

By Michael Cambria

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Yankees General Manager and Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations Brian Cashman shocked the Yankees fan base this winter when he decided to sign Stephen Drew to a one year/ $5 million dollar deal. Obviously the signing was based on the belief that the veteran middle-infielder would provide superb defense and that his abysmal offense in 2014 would only get better over time.

Well I’ve got some news for Cashman. Yes, Drew has provided some stability on defense, but his offense is just as unproductive as it was in 2014, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be getting better anytime soon.

Stephen Drew has hit just .190 in 42 at-bats so far this season, and despite being in a four-way tie for the most home runs on the Yankees (4), he’s barely getting his bat on the ball. In 12 games played, Stephen Drew has an alarmingly low line-drive percentage (LD/BIP) of 3.3%, which is the lowest of any Yankee according to FanGraphs. To make matters worse, his line-drive percentage is the lowest amongst all MLB batters with over 40 or more at-bats so far in 2015.

Even in 2014 when Drew posted his worst season to date, 17.4% of his hits were line-drives. Perhaps even more alarming is that Drew’s ground ball rate has increased from 31.3% in 2014 to 40.0% percent in 2015.  His fly ball rate is sitting at 56.7%, which would end up a career high for him if he keeps up with this downward trend.

Given Rob Refsnyder‘s slow start to the season in the minors and Jose Pirela still on the comeback trail from a concussion suffered during spring training, Stephen Drew’s spot in the Yankees lineup appears safe for now, but  I wouldn’t bank on him finishing the year in the Bronx if he doesn’t start turning things around offensively very soon.

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

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