A-Rod’s hot start hard to ignore
By Tim Haberin
He was supposed to be a trainwreck. A disaster. Purely a sideshow. He still might be all of those things in one way or another. But after a big night at Tropicana Field in which he enjoyed the 61st multi-homer game of his career, Alex Rodriguez made one thing very clear: against all odds, he is currently the New York Yankees‘ best player. And by a significant margin.
With just shy of two weeks of the 2015 campaign in the books, that could change quickly, but so far A-Rod has answered many of the questions surrounding him in resounding fashion. Regardless of how you feel about him personally or the legitimacy of his achievements, it’s undeniable that Rodriguez is producing well beyond even the most optimistic of preseason expectations.
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PED issues aside, one would be skeptical about the remaining ability of any player about to turn 40 years old, much less one with two surgically-repaired hips who just sat out an entire year. Prior to his suspension, A-Rod had not been inspiring much confidence anyway. His offensive numbers had been in steady decline for several seasons amid injuries, and his .771 OPS in 44 games in 2013 was his lowest since becoming a full-time player in 1996.
As his exile drew to a close with the start of 2015 Spring Training and all the extra fanfare and media scrutiny it entailed, many simply wondered if he could hold up physically. And even if he could, would he be able to contend with 90+ mph inside fastballs? Rodriguez wasted little time responding, belting three home runs in 19 spring appearances to suggest there still might be some pop left in that bat. But would the regular season tell a different story?
In a career full of unexpected twists and turns, it seems almost fitting that A-Rod’s hot hitting has continued into April. In ten games he has posted a .344/.432/.781 slash line, along with four home runs and 11 RBI. Friday night’s game with the Rays felt like an exclamation point, when at least for one evening Rodriguez seemed in full possession his MVP past, a time when carrying an entire team by himself was a routine exercise.
It was a tight contest, the kind the offensively-challenged Yankees lost frequently last season and have already been on the wrong side of a few times this year. A-Rod led the way, driving in four of the Yanks’ runs in the 5-4 victory. Two of his three hits left the park, including a second-inning monster shot to left-center that traveled an estimated 477 feet, the longest homer in Major League Baseball so far this season. His most important hit of the night was decidedly less thunderous, as he laced a single to center field in the eighth inning to plate the go-ahead run.
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Many on both sides of the Yankee fence hoped Rodriguez would just fade away, some even urging the team to release him and eat the remainder of his mammoth contract just to be done with him once and for all. Any contributions he made on the field would pale in comparison to all of the distraction and negative energy he would bring. Always one to throw a wrench into the works, A-Rod has flipped the script again by appearing more savior than albatross.
Of course, even prosperous times for Alex cannot be completely devoid of controversy. As he now stands only two home runs away from tying Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list, the Yankees plan to dispute the milestone bonuses in his contract. When the deal was signed, team management surely imagined marketing the event for all its worth. That’s virtually impossible to do now with a tainted reputation unlikely to ever fully recover. The conflict is sort of a reflection of the greater psychological dilemma within the Yankee fan community. A-Rod is difficult to embrace completely, but with an underwhelming lineup it’s hard to complain about any offensive production, regardless of who’s providing it.
It’s a statement that’s part exhilarating, part terrifying, but one that for the time being sounds a lot less far-fetched than it did a couple months ago: The New York Yankees are Alex Rodriguez’s team. The wheels could come off at any moment, but he has become a legitimate reason to watch an otherwise fairly dull squad. Some might be cheering, others booing, but right now they’re all watching.