N.Y. Post Blog: Sherman: Reyes, Yankee Defense and Met Wake-up Call (RR)

Hardballin’ with Joel Sherman…

2. It is a hidden item because it is not in the boxscores and you really have to scrutinize the games to see it. But poor defense, especially when it comes to range, really hurts the Yankees. I think Robinson CanoRobinson Cano is the only above-average defender on the team, especially when he is moving toward the middle of the diamond. Chien-Ming WangChien-Ming Wang might have been out of his catastrophic fourth inning on Sunday if Alberto Gonzalez – who also misplayed two pop-ups in the Subway Series – had started a very makeable double play rather than let the ball slide under his glove. In this series, the Mets ran on both Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu with impunity. Melky Cabrera dove and missed a Carlos Beltran liner that went for a triple against Joba Chamberlain. Jason Giambi failed to register at least a force in Wang’s faithful fourth on Sunday. And Jeter had to swallow one of those backhands in the hole he used to make routinely (two steps of range ago) in the opener. Yes, Alex Rodriguez will soon replace Gonzalez. But even Rodriguez is more sure-handed than rangy. The Yanks are trying to break in young pitchers, but that becomes even more difficult when plays are not made behind them. If you are looking for one of the keys to Tampa’s surprising start look at how much better defensively the Rays are than perhaps any other time in their history. The re-arranged double-play combo of Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura, in particular, upgrades the Ray defense significantly up the middle.