Jacoby Ellsbury has been en fuego as of late. In the win against Toronto last night, the Pinstripe Speedster went 3 for 5 with two stolen bases, two runs scored and extended his hit streak to eight games. He is 17 for his last 32 and those 17 hits are in his last seven games alone! To put that into perspective, Stephen Drew has 11 hits all year.
Age hasn’t slowed Ellsbury down either. He has swiped 11 bags on 15 attempts this year, which is good for third in the league behind Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon. Hamilton is 24 years old, Gordon 27, and the 31 year old veteran is still keeping up.
His batting average now sits at .358 (fifth best in the league) to go along with a .433 on-base percentage, .415 slugging percentage and .848 on-base plus slugging. He leads the team in at bats, runs scored, hits and stolen bases. To say he’s been in the zone would be an understatement.
“Hard to imagine you can be hotter than he is,” Joe Girardi said after Tuesday’s game. “He’s been unbelievable at the top of the order.”
Ells can’t remember the last time he has been this hot at the plate. “I mean, you just go up there every day and try to put quality at bats together,” he said. “Try and get on base for the guys to drive me in. Gives the offense a lot of confidence.” Since April 18 he’s hitting .418. “Just trying to keep it going as long as possible.”
Having the one-two speedy punch of Ellsbury and Brett Gardner at the top of the order is doing wonders for the offense. “Any time you score runs, it takes a lot of pressure off your pitcher,” Ellsbury said of Tuesday’s win. “Teixeira keeps swinging the bat well and Alex driving in those runs early, it was big.”
Speaking of Gardner, he isn’t doing too bad himself. He’s hitting .309/.404/.444/.849 with eight stolen bases on nine attempts with two homers and 13 RBIs. “We definitely push each other,” Gardner said. “It’s a lot of fun hitting behind him in the lineup. It seems like every time I come up he’s on base. You know, I feel like he makes me better and hopefully he feels the same about me.”
“They learn from each other,” Girardi said. “They’re two players, who, when you hit them back to back, it can be special.”
And don’t hold the four RBI’s against Ellsbury, the bottom of the order hasn’t been producing. They are batting just .185 combined, hard to produce runs when nobody is on base when you come up.
With the bottom of the order struggling, what these two have been doing is no doubt the key to the team’s success. And it isn’t just their bats, they have been chasing down fly balls they have no business catching, and they make it look effortless. Speed, power, finesse and glorious staches, these two have it all.
Now I’m not saying the mustaches are to blame for this sudden outburst, but if I were Ells and Gardner I wouldn’t shave until October.
