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DENVER, CO - JUNE 15: Chase Headley (12) of the New York Yankees adjusts his cap before taking the field before the bottom of the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Colorado Rockies hosted the New York Yankees on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Chase Headley has quietly turned his season around

Remember when Chase Headley couldn’t buy a hit? Remember when he was the problem – the poster boy for the Yankees’ struggles at the beginning of the season? Well, he’s quietly turned his season around, and considering where he was at the beginning of May, it’s remarkable to look at what he’s done since.

On May 8, Headley was hitting an anemic .163/.253/.163 with no extra base hits and just two RBI. Statistically, he was considered one of the worst players in all of baseball, and Yankee fans were calling for his head. Headley’s owed $26M over the next two years. Many fans were thinking – myself included – If he’s this bad now, what will he be like in 2018 at age 34?

Instead of packing it in in early May, giving up and feeling sorry for himself, Headley picked himself up off the ground and decided he was going to do something about his performance. Since May 8, Headley is hitting .307/.373/.457 with three homers, 12 RBI and eight doubles. For the season, he’s now slashing .255/.330/.348. While that doesn’t pop out at you, I want you to look at where he was compared to where he is now. Pretty impressive. It’s hard to imagine that Headley has been one of the better Yankee hitters over the past month or so.

Headley is also doing other things to elevate his game. He has four stolen bases on the season; he had none in 2015. After making a league-leading 23 errors last year, his defense has improved vastly. Headley has just five errors entering play on Tuesday.

Are his run production numbers where you want them to be? No. Has Headley really wowed you with the bat this season? No. But he’s no longer a black hole at third base. He’s no longer an automatic out that kills rallies. Headley currently has a better average  than Brett Gardner, Starlin Castro, Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann. Raise your hand if you saw that happening by June 21? Headley also has the third highest OBP (.330) on the team (minimum 50 at-bats) behind Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury. Crazy.

We all wanted Headley gone. We all wanted someone else – ANYONE – to play third base. While he may not be the guy who smacked 31 homers and drove in 115 in 2012, he’s no longer hurting the team. You have to give credit to the guy for turning his dreadful season around.