Debby Wong-US Presswire
Of all the New York Yankees who have struggled this season, the one that sticks out to me is Kevin Youkilis. The plan for Youkilis was to fill in for Alex Rodriguez. However, Youkilis has performed below expectations so far this season. His batting average is a disappointing .247, and he only has two home runs and eight RBI. This is not what the Yankees were expecting when they gave him a $12 million contract back in December.
I liked the Youkilis signing. Yes, he did have a down year in 2012 in which he hit only 19 home runs, but I have always liked his bat. I also thought that he was an upgrade at third base over Rodriguez. I expected him to put up good numbers because when the Yankees signed him, it was expected that their big hitters (Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter) would all be in the lineup. This would give Youkilis protection and increase his chances of producing a lot of RBI.
Youkilis was placed on the DL in April due to a bad back which was another disappointment. Even though Youkilis was not hitting very well when he got hurt, the injury meant that he would not be able to play for a while. If Youkilis had not gone on the DL he might be having a much better season. When he was placed on the DL it meant that he would have to wait a little while longer to improve his numbers. He was activated on Friday night but did not play on Monday night. Hopefully everything is okay.
It is only June, but Kevin Youkilis has not done as well as the Yankees expected him to when they signed him. I hope that he picks things up because he is capable of playing much better than he has been.
