Yankees News: Carlos Beltran Rides the Pine

Prior to Saturday’s loss at the hands of Matt Harvey, skipper Joe Girardi finally made the decision most people have been waiting for.

He decided to bench the struggling Carlos Beltran, who’s owed $15 million a year, in favor of his backup Chris Young, who’s owed just $2.5 million, and is out playing Beltran this season by a far.

“I know he’s frustrated at the moment,” Girardi said of Beltran to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.

But, I think this is a sign that Girardi is finally starting to accept the fact that the veteran’s struggles are now becoming a reality. Over his first 14 games of 2015, he’s averaging .173, the lowest of any Yankees starter. He also has no home runs and has recorded just seven RBI’s and has the lowest OBP (.241) of any Yankees regular as well. Coming into Saturday afternoon, Beltran was hitless in his last six at-bats.

His replacement, Chris Young, has been incredible in his limited opportunities. The 31-year-old outfielder is hitting .357 with four homers and nine RBI off the bench for the New York Yankees.

"“He’s playing so well, and the good thing is we’ve run into lefties and we’ll see another one Sunday [when the Mets will use starting pitch Jon Niese]. So there have been some situations where I’ve been able to get him in there. But he’s been swinging the bat so well, we’re looking for ways.”"

Though their lineup for Sunday is yet to be announced, it seems as if Girardi already made the decision to play Chris Young over Carlos Beltran for a second straight game. Should it stay like this going forward?

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