Bronx Briefing: Brett Gardner Getting Back On Track

By Neil Keefe
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When things were going badly for Brett Gardner over his first 18 games of the season, he lost his role as the leadoff man against right-handed pitchers and raised questions about whether or not the growth we saw from him last year was just a fluke. For the first month of the season I referred to a strikeout looking as a "Gardner". As in, Jorge Posada "Gardnered" against Jose Valverde in the ninth inning on Tuesday night. But with the way Gardner is coming back to life, I think that reference might be meaningless now.

On Easter Sunday, Gardner struck out four times and watched his average fall to .140. Two days later, Gardner entered the second game of a four-game series against the White Sox hitting .136 with and just 3-for-38 (.079) over his previous 11 games. But in that Tuesday night loss to the White Sox, he finally looked like the guy who was supposed to be at the top of the lineup this season. Gardner went 1-for-3 with a home run in that game and hasn't looked back.

After his home run, Gardner was given the next game off against lefty Mark Buehrle and used only as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning. But in his last seven games with a plate appearance, Gardner is 8-for-14 (.571) with a double, two home runs, three RBIs and nine walks. Since last Tuesday's game against the White Sox, he has watched his average climb from .136 to .219, his on-base percentage increase from .190 to .337 and his slugging percentage go from .254 to .411.

I'm not sure it's time for Joe Girardi to start penciling his name in at the top of the order again with the Yankees winning and Gardner turning things around at the bottom of the order. However, if a certain someone at the top of the order (it hurts to much to say his name) doesn't begin to turn things around himself, then it could become a strong possibility again.

While everything has been going right for the Yankees' hottest hitter at the plate, it's been a different story on the basepaths. Gardner has yet to return to his 2010 form or resemble anything even close to the base stealer the Yankees grew accustomed to last season. He is just 4-for-8 on stolen base attempts this season (he had 11 in 12 attempts on this day a year ago), and has just one steal since April 9 while being caught four times over that stretch. What used to be a sure thing that he would be running once he reached, Gardner seems to be hesitant to make a move through the first month of the season.

Gardner still hasn't reached his full potential as a base stealer since he relies on his speed and not his reads (which are poor). He uses too many pitches to figure out the pitcher's move, and leaves the hitter in an awkward position trying to give Gardner time, but also trying not to fall behind in the count.

Now that Gardner has gotten back on track in the box, he needs regain his status as a threat on the bases. It's the last part needed for 2011 Brett Gardner's game to continue to build on what 2010 Brett Gardner started.