The Yankees have benched struggling right fielder Nick Swisher, who is hitting a miserable .114 in the postseason is 11 for his last 77 dating back to the regular season. Veteran utilityman Jerry Hairston will replace Swisher in right and hit seventh in the Yankees lineup.
Hairston has a history of success against Pedro Martinez with eight hits in 24 ABs and a .907 OPS.
However, Hairston has played just 72 of his 1,010 regular-season games in right field. He last played there on Sept. 7, coming in for an inning at the end of the first game of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays.
If I were Yankee manager Joe Girardi, I would have inserted the speedy Brett Gardner in center and moved Melky Cabrera to right, improving the team's speed and defense.
Meanwhile, the light-hitting Jose Molina will start and catch the mental midget that is A.J. Burnett. For whatever reason Burnett doesn't feel comfortable throwing to Jorge Posada, one of the best hitting catchers in the game. Molina is certainly a better catcher than Jorge but that would be like benching Ryan Howard for Dobbs or Chase Utley for Eric Bruntlett because they are better fielders.
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