After going 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, Curtis Granderson has continued to show no ill effects at the plate since returning from the disabled list. After returning from his broken pinky finger that cost him 60 games, the Grandyman has hit .291/.412/.455 in 97 plate appearances and 24 games. Just what the doctor ordered.
Granderson's production hasn't been quite as noticed as it probably should have for a variety of reasons. There's the whole Alex Rodriguez drama, Soriano's return to the Yankees (and being awesome at the plate to go along with it), and Derek Jeter's return from injury, among other stories, have overshadowed Granderson's awesomeness thus far. However, it shouldn't go totally unnoticed. To go along with the positive production they've received from A-Rod and Soriano in their returns, plus Robinson Cano's and Brett Gardner's production they've received all season, and finally the potential production they'll get out of Derek Jeter, this gives the team six legitimately good hitters in the lineup which is something they've been desperately searching for all season long.
The recent hot stretch aside, 2013 has been a lost year for Granderson. It was supposed to be a big year for him, given it's his contract year and all, but the broken forearm he suffered in Spring Training (Hate you, J.A. Happ), to go along with the broken pinky he suffered just 10 days after returning, have cost Granderson a boatload of games this season and a potential big payday in the off-season. He'll surely get the qualifying offer from the Yankees, and if he accepts it (who knows if he would at the point. That's probably another post for another day) the Yankees will get a rock-solid middle of the order bat on a one-year, ~$14 million deal. Lost games and future with the Yankees aside, it's real nice to see Grandy continue to hit well at the plate and help lead the Yankees to a possible, albeit improbable, wild card berth.
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