Juan

Rivera

Rivera’s name has also been mentioned in trade rumors recently. The 24-year-old shouldn’t be starting for you, but is worth holding on to for now in case he gets traded somewhere he can play.

Rivera has struggled since being called up for the injured Bernie Williams. This is a start.

Yankee right fielders are hitting .167 since Raul Mondesi was traded to Arizona. Rivera is hitting .330 in 294 at-bats at Columbus.

Rivera made a second straight start in left field with Garret Anderson limited to DH duties. If Anderson had been 100 percent, Rivera might have been on the bench in favor of Casey Kotchman.

Expect Rivera to continue to benefit from Garret Anderson being forced to play DH with his recent injuries.

The homers came off Mike Myers and Mike Remlinger and both of his singles should have been turned into outs. In fairness, the first single was a scorching grounder down the third base line, but Bill Mueller made an excellent diving grab, only to pull the first baseman off the bag with his poor throw. Rivera is earning himself more and more playing time over Jeff DaVanon with his recent performance. Garret Anderson isn’t going to return to left field anytime soon, so Rivera has a fair amount of value in AL-only leagues.

Rivera could have had an even bigger day. He hit with two men on in each of his first four at-bats and one man on in the last one. Rivera has four homers in seven games and 12 in 31 games since beginning of July.

Chone Figgins began the game on the bench, putting Orlando Cabrera in the leadoff spot. Rivera, who spent time batting fifth and sixth, had been dropped in the order since Kendry Morales arrived. He’ll have to heat up in order to retain most of his at-bats following the return of Darin Erstad later this week.

Rivera isn’t expected to miss any time due to the sore ankle, but ankle injuries have a tendency to linger.

The slumping Rivera was dropped in the order to make room for Kendry Morales. Rivera is five for his last 33, lowering his average from .268 to .225. If he’s still struggling by the time Darin Erstad returns, he could have his role reduced.