Yankees Editorial: Should Stephen Drew Be Benched?

Maybe I’m just being too negative. This was an interesting question posed to Brian Cashman yesterday. Not only is Carlos Beltran and Didi Gregorius struggling, but Stephen Drew isn’t exactly hitting like Lou Gehrig. Should Stephen Drew grab some pine?

"“No,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said on the phone Thursday. “I think Drew’s been fine. Right now, I’m not looking at anyone being an alternative at second base to Drew. I’m surprised you asked the question.”"

Jose Pirela is on the way back, that’s why the question was posed. Brendan Ryan is also on his way back as well.

Drew already has more homers than he did in his time with the Yankees last year. His OPS is .693 which is much improved over last season. He’s also been pretty good defensively at second and short.

Pirela only has one hit on rehab assignment and Rob Refsnyder has been kicking around the ball defensively, though his bat seems to be coming around a bit. The point is if either of them come up they need to play all the time.

"He has struggled out of the gate, both offensively and defensively here in April in Scranton,” Cashman said."

Maybe Drew can play short (I’m not exactly the president of Didi’s fan club), but at this point, I’m not sure Drew should be benched. There isn’t exactly a replacement for him at this point anyway.

I don’t see Drew coming back after this season, so second is ripe for the taking for either Pirela or Refsnyder next season. For now though, get used to seeing a lot of Drew up the middle.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Baseball Reference proves Yankees’ Aaron Judge lives rent free in Boston
• Yankees’ Clay Holmes trade just became even bigger disaster for Pirates
• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Predicting Yankees-Diamondbacks LF trade package after Ken Rosenthal update
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing