Brett Gardner continued to put his recent slump behind him with three hits in Wednesday’s 12-6 win over the Angels and he’s looked to a familiar face to turn things around: assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames.
The two played together in 2010 during Thames’ second stint in The Bronx.
What began as something of a left-field platoon between the two turned into Gardner playing the position nearly every game after he proved he could his lefty pitching.
“I never really looked at it that way,” Gardner said before extending his hitting streak to six games. “I guess that was what was going on. I enjoyed being teammates with him and the way he worked. I started picking up things from him then, and that helps when we talk about guys before games now.”
Thames stuck around and helped the Yankees get to the playoffs in 2010. He recalled his initial impression of the young Gardner.
“He always made sure he was ready to play,” Thames said. “A hard-nosed guy. And he’s still the same way. He brings energy every day and plays hard even if he’s banged up.”
Thames said he was never promised a particular job by the Yankees in 2010, but wasn’t surprised when Gardner’s role become enhanced as the year went on.
“Over time you learn how to do different things,” Thames said. “He takes this game seriously. He didn’t want to be a platoon guy and worked his butt off. He’s had a pretty good career so far.”
Thames is trying to get that career back on track. Gardner has struggled almost ever since he was named to the AL All-Star team a year ago.
But Gardner is now 12-for-23 with three doubles and a walk during this recent stretch. And the strikeout-prone left fielder has struck out just once in that span. It’s a marked improvement from the streak he went through last week, when he went 0-for-24 over nine games.
“I’m swinging the bat better and getting better results,” Gardner said. “Those guys in the middle of the order enjoy hitting with men on base.”
Thames said: “He’s tinkered with some things here and there. We hope we can get him back on track and the last few days have been better.”
Still, Gardner’s OPS against lefties heading into Wednesday was just .529 — not something that would have ended a platoon. So he’s relying on Thames for assistance again.
“Even when I played with him, we always talked about what we were trying to do at the plate to figure out the best game plan,” Gardner said. “Now that he’s a coach, we try to do the same thing.”