BALTIMORE — After a tough first two months a year ago when he replaced Derek Jeter at shortstop, Didi Gregorius tightened up defensively and improved considerably at the plate.
The pressure of taking over for Jeter vanished, and Gregorius played well in this year’s spring training. Fifteen days into April, the left-handed hitter was batting .286 (8-for-28). As the rest of the Yankees lineup was at the start of a slump, Gregorius thrived.
Lately, however, scouts have noticed some problems in the field that haven’t shown up as errors, although he has made four (all fielding) since April 20.
A talent evaluator, who raved about Gregorius in the second half of last season, noted Gregorius’ defense has regressed a bit.
“He had two balls I have seen him get to easy in the past not get to this year because of poor jumps and angles,’’ the scout said.
It’s possible moving Gregorius on shifts and during counts has made a difference.
“You start losing your angles and speed of ball reads when you are getting jerked around the infield,’’ the scout said.
Gregorius is one of four AL shortstops with a league-high four errors.
By no means is he expected to carry the load at the plate, but Gregorius, who hit .265 last season, is batting .225 (9-for-40) since April 16.
“I think it’s the fact that he has seen so many left-handers and when they do see a right-hander, it’s a rarity,’’ Joe Girardi said. “There is a difference in his numbers when it comes to right-handers and left-handers but I think he got better against left-handers last year.’’
While the Yankees had faced eight lefty starters in the past 10 games going into Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles at Camden Yards against right-hander Chris Tillman, Gregorius is hitting better against lefties (.261; 6-for-23) than against righties (.200; 9-for-45).
The Orioles will be without shortstop J.J. Hardy on Tuesday night when the clubs open a three-game series. Hardy suffered a broken left foot when he fouled a ball off it Sunday. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
It’s also possible the Birds won’t have closer Zach Britton. He sprained his left ankle Saturday.
While the Yankees’ inability to hit in the clutch is one of the reasons they are last in the AL East and have an 8-15 record, the pitchers are lacking, too, with runners in scoring positions.
The Yankees are batting .203 in the clutch, which is 14th out of 15 AL clubs. Opposing batters are hitting .271 in the clutch, which is 14th in the league. Their 12.80 ERA in those situations is also 14th.