Gardner taking aim at key improvements

At every minor league level, Brett Gardner has shown improvements in his approach to the game, and now that the left field job is his to lose, he’ll have to again adapt his style. After a good, but not great, 2009 that saw Gardner hit .270/.345/.379 as a part-time player, Yankee fans know what to expect. He’s fast, but so far, he hasn’t gotten on base quite often enough to capitalize on his speed. He’s a contact hitter, but he has shown a tendency to be a bit too selective at the plate. Over the weekend, Chad Jennings talked with Gardner about his off-season approach, and what Brett said should be encouraging. He’s already working on improving his bunting, and he wants to be more aggressive by putting more balls in play this year. It might just be the words of a baseball player gearing up for Spring Training, but those areas are exactly the ones upon which Gardner should be focusing.