Watching some of the struggles the Yankees have had the last few days (today notwithstanding, although they still only hit 1-8 with runners in scoring position) made me think about what are the root causes for these kinds of slumps. Is it the hitters just really struggling or should we give credit to great pitching? Or should we do a cop out and say it's a combination of both?
In the case of the Yankees, I think I actually will go the cop out route and say it's both. I say this because yesterday, when they were shut out by Hisinori Takahashi, they actually did get 8 hits. Yet they had none with runners on. To me this says they were pressing in those situations. And frankly, the body language for the hitters was not great. There were not many comfortable swings, and I saw a lot of chases of pitches out of the zone. I saw that today at times, too. I wasn't really able to watch the two losses against the Phillie's so I can't comment on those games. But in general, and this is for all teams, I think a great way to see who is to blame for hitting slumps. That is, look at the body language. And to some extent, look for disparities with runners on and off base.
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