The Yankees have already reached the point where a change needs to be made at second base. Stephen Drew is nursing a .176/.251/.360 (66 wRC+) batting line and currently ranks 155th out of 164 qualified hitters in wRC+. He’s sure-handed in the field and that is appreciated, but good gravy, no level of defense makes up for that offense. Second base is a problem.
Neither Jose Pirela nor Brendan Ryan nor Gregorio Petit is appealing as an everyday player, meaning the club’s best internal second base option is Rob Refsnyder. He’s hitting a solid .286/.384/.409 (134 wRC+) with Triple-A Scranton after going deep in each of his last two games. Since May 1st, Refsnyder owns a .295/.410/.436 (151 wRC+) batting line with more walks (38) than strikeouts (30). He’s also gone 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts.
Refsnyder’s strikeout rate is most encouraging. His walk rate has always been good in the minors — minor league walk rates aren’t all that predictive anyway because there are so many pitchers down there who can’t throw strikes — but his strikeout rate did increase as he climbed the ladder. It went from 13.8% at High-A to 15.6% at Double-A to 20.1% at Triple-A last year. This year Refsnyder has cut it down to 12.5%, which is good to see even if he is repeating the level.
That said, we all know offense isn’t really the issue with Refsnyder. He’s put up great minor league numbers and who knows if that will translate to MLB success. That applies to everyone. Many great minor league mashers couldn’t hack it in the show. Refsnyder’s real problem is his sketchy second base defense at a time when the Yankees are prioritizing defense so heavily that they’re willing to punt offense to get it. (See: Drew, Stephen.) Bad timing for Refsnyder. A few years ago the team would have been more willing to overlook his glove.
There’s no way for us to evaluate Refsnyder’s defense in Triple-A. Errors don’t tell anything (can’t make an error on a ball you don’t get to!) and looks are limited. At least they are for me. The scouting reports have generally remained the same: Refsnyder works hard and is making progress but is still below-average and unlikely to be better than average down the line. And if that really is the case, it’s hard to see where Refsnyder fits with the Yankees long-term given their sudden obsession with defense.
At this point though, the Drew experiment isn’t working. He was a fine low-cost flier coming into the season and it didn’t work out. That’s baseball. The Yankees have turned to other young players this year — mostly outfielders following injuries — and were rewarded with solid production. In some cases more than that. Refsnyder won’t play much defense and he might not hit at all. It’s a risky move, no doubt. Is that enough of a reason to keep running Drew out there? I don’t think so. Obviously the Yankees disagree.
I think we’ve reached the point where it’s fair to ask: when will the Yankees be comfortable calling up Refsnyder if not right now? The second base situation at the MLB level is dreadful and the team has a good (not great) second base prospect in Triple-A who’s hit well since the calendar flipped to May. That … seems like a no-brainer move. They’re waiting for his defense to improve, I get it, but that may never happen. That also applies to Drew’s offense!
No one is asking Refsnyder to be a savior. We’re just looking for competence and a possible upgrade over one of the worst everyday players in baseball. The Yankees could either try the kid out and hope for a net upgrade thanks to improved offense, or continue to stick with a known sub-mediocrity. Unfortunately so far the club is going with the latter.
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