4. Bench Chase Headley
The Boston Red Sox told their $95-million third baseman, Pablo Sandoval to ride the pine after a dismal 2015 campaign and an even worse Spring Training.
The Yankees should take a play out of their rivals playbook and sit the man who’s nothing but a hole in New York’s lineup.
Chase Headley’s overall slash line is .150/.268/.150 with no extra-base hits so far this season. Headley is just the 13th player in history to finish the month of April with a slugging percentage of .150 or lower.
The reasons manager Joe Girardi gives for his struggles is “he’s hitting the ball hard at the wrong places.”
Oh really?
According to Fan Graphs, his hard % (percentage of balls in play that was classified as hit with hard speed) is at 21.3% compared to his career average of 30.9%.
On any other team, Headley, like Sandoval, would have been exiled to the bench. Although I don’t think Ronald Torreyes is an impressive alternative, he is slashing .381/.381/.524 and provides the Bombers with a much better glove.
Regardless, Headley is doing nothing but hurting the team in the lineup and at the hot corner. It’s time that Girardi gives him some time on the bench to figure things out.
