Trent Grisham's bad luck continues except in these key situations for the Yankees

Through May 13, Trent Grisham is batting .175. Prior to last season, he had three straight seasons with a sub-.200 batting average, so clearly he's reverting to what he was before, and is a $22 million New York Yankees' mistake.

At least, that's what some fans would have you believe. Those fans typically overlook the hidden but super important area where Grisham is excelling.

Grisham's overall production still hasn't matched his underlying metrics, though savvy fans know that is coming. What he has tangibly produced is an extremely good performance in the moments that matter most.

A common complaint of the Yankees' lineup over the years is that it's a feast-or-famine situation with runners in scoring position. Far too often, the hitters gear up for a homer, and instead often go down via the K. So when Trent Grisham is hitting .308/.355/.885 with a 9.7% strikeout rate, it's clear that at least he is hitting and showing power in these situations.

Similarly, folks have often complained that in the biggest moments and high-leverage situations, the Yankees shrink. In these instances, Grisham has a .364/.417/1.000 line. The sample is small, but given that he did the same thing last season, it's becoming clear that the 29-year-old has the clutch gene.

Trent Grisham has proven to be clutch, and now the Yankees center fielder is heating up, too

Over the first month of the season, Grisham hit just .151/.298/.312, which was good for a .610 OPS over 93 at-bats. However, since the calendar switched to May, he's upped that to .227/.340/.477. That's a performance that comes out to an .817 OPS and is incredibly similar to last season's .235/.348/.464 (.811 OPS) mark.

His underlying data is still stellar, led by 100th-percentile marks in chase rate and squared-up percentage, as well as many other brilliant marks behind these two stats. Simply put, Grisham has actually been really good. He's just been unlucky. Aaron Boone stated as much during a recent appearance on the Talkin' Yanks podcast.

Asked about potentially moving Grisham out of the leadoff spot, Boone laid out what's really going on with Grisham, saying, "Trent's in a pretty good spot overall, and even [May 11 against Baltimore] he walks in front of the Rice home run. He's getting on base. He's been incredibly unlucky, like that's a real thing."

"I'm watching him square balls up routinely," Boone added. "He's gotta start finding some grass. With the number of guys we have off to a bit of a slow start, no thoughts of moving him right now."

Grisham is 12th in baseball with a 16.8% walk rate. He's also striking out just 16.8% of the time. He's constantly finding ways to get on base, even when the rockets coming off his bat were only finding gloves. Now that we're in May, he's starting to see some of those high exit velo shots find space, and his numbers are rebounding accordingly. Before long, we should see his numbers shoot back up to last year's levels, and possibly beyond.

And all the while, Grisham's been coming through in the clutch. Yankees fans have clamored for someone to consistently show up in big moments for what seems like forever. He's doing that, and it's about time that the doubters realize that he's actually a very valuable ball player.

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