Brian McCann quietly bouncing back in Year 2 with Yankees
By Tim Haberin
As far as individual comebacks go for the New York Yankees this season, Mark Teixeira‘s is probably the most dramatic. After a series of injury-riddled and underperforming campaigns, the 35-year-old first baseman’s 17 home runs and 45 RBI place him within the top-5 throughout Major League Baseball. To see him go from presumably washed-up to one of the game’s premier sluggers again has been nothing short of startling. The Bronx Bombers are utilizing the long ball again after a two-season power outage, and Teixeira has been providing the biggest jolt.
Of course, Alex Rodriguez‘s surprisingly strong showing at the plate has generated its share of headlines as well.
Another player who has turned things around recently to decidedly less fanfare is catcher Brian McCann. The former Braves backstop was one of the Yanks’ big free agent acquisitions two offseasons ago, inking a five-year deal with the club. Fans and pundits alike predicted a substantial impact from McCann, especially after the Yankees had just endured an entire season with Chris Stewart and Austin Romine splitting catching duties. The Yankees’ cabal of backup-level catchers posted a lackluster combined .585 OPS in 2013. Surely McCann would represent a major upgrade, his left-handed swing sending plenty of homers into Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch?
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It would have been difficult to not outperform the previous year’s black hole at catcher, but McCann struggled to find his footing in 2014 for the most part. He put up a paltry .232/.286/.406 slash line, though he did manage to club 23 homers and drive in 75 runs. Increased defensive shifts received some of the blame for his decline, but McCann just never seemed very comfortable at the plate in general during his debut season in pinstripes.
If there was a shred of optimism entering 2015, it was McCann’s performance in September. Though he still hit only .222, he began showing off his power a bit more. Eight of his home runs and 18 RBI came during the season’s final month. The Yanks hoped he could build off his strong finish and be more of the leader they imagined he might be when they signed him.
The ups and downs of McCann’s individual performance often dictated the team’s fate as a whole in 2014. He hit .287/.343/.494 in wins but just .171/.221/.308 in losses. This disparity highlighted the importance of McCann turning things around in 2015 if the Yankees were to have hope of returning to the postseason.
The Bombers find themselves atop the AL East at the moment, and McCann has indeed played a crucial role in the club’s success so far. He has been streaky, hitting below .230 as recently as May 19, but the last couple weeks have seen him on a definite upswing. Since May 20 he is batting .370/.455/.761. He hit homers in four consecutive games from May 25-29 while collecting 7 RBI. Last night he delivered a vital two-run single off Max Scherzer to help the Yanks secure a 6-1 victory over the Nationals.
Overall, McCann is slashing .266/.330/.485 on the year with 9 home runs and 37 RBI, setting a far superior pace than he was at this point last season. He appears to be thriving by not worrying as much about beating the shift, pulling the ball 50.7% of the time. A similar tactic has also seemed to help Teixeira. Eno Sarris of Fangraphs points out that McCann is popping the ball up significantly less than he has in the past as well. His pop-up rate has plummeted from 5.0% last year to 0.8% this season, placing him among the league leaders.
If the Yankees are to remain in control of a tightly-packed division, they will need McCann and the rest of their core to keep providing steady, reliable production. Even if Teixeira and A-Rod slow down at times, a reinvigorated Brian McCann can help make sure the offense doesn’t come to a complete standstill like it often did last year. For now, the Yankees will be glad that their investment is looking much closer to what they originally envisioned.