Nick Swisher is scuffling. So much that Joe Girardi is “sleeping on” the idea of benching him for Game 6 against the Angels.
“We’ll sleep on it, and we’ll make a decision what we’re going to do,” Girardi said Friday. “But Swisher is a good player and Swisher has done a lot of good things for us this year. And you look at the matchup against [Angels Game 6 starter Joe] Saunders -- he’s had some hits off of Saunders.
“It’s not just one guy necessarily that you think about,” Girardi said. “You think about where you might put the parts. Do you flip-flop guys? I don’t ever really rush into decisions, because the one thing about the playoffs is you usually have a lot of time to think about it.”
Swisher is just 3-for-29 (.103) with ten strikeouts during the postseason. He had a chance to play hero against Brian Fuentes with the bases loaded and two out on Thursday, but weakly flew out to shallow center field to force a Game 6. While Swisher has been unproductive, you might be surprised to learn that Mark Teixeira is batting just .171 (6-for-35) with nine strikeouts during the postseason. And he’s certainly not sitting.
Swisher has enjoyed modest success against Game 6 starter Joe Saunders, going 5-for-21 (.238) with four walks, one home run and six RBI. If Girardi decides to bench him, don’t be surprised to see him go with Jerry Hairston Jr., not Brett Gardner, since he is right-handed. While Hairston would be the better matchup against the southpaw, he hasn’t started a game in right field since being acquired from the Reds in July. Not the ideal time for an experiment.