Youkilis down in the dumps
He's in a wretched second-half slump
Fenway Park's "Youk" cheer hasn't turned to a "boo" yet, but Kevin Youkilis is hitting a dreadful slump in the middle of what had been a spectacular season.
An 0 for 4 last night in a 4-2 loss to the White Sox made the Red Sox first baseman 3 for 27 (.111) in eight games since the All-Star break. Ending last night with a .309 average, Youkilis is in danger of dropping below .300 -- the Roberto Alomar line, perhaps? -- for the first time since May 6.
There were possibilities for Youkilis to attend the All-Star Game in San Francisco, and the Red Sox successfully lobbied for his name to be included on the players' All-Star ballot in addition to David Ortiz's at first base. Those days seem far away now, with Youkilis's struggles at the plate.
The recent slide begs the question of whether this has been a breakout season for Youkilis, or merely a hot month.
Youkilis put up averages of 260, .278, and .279 in his first three years with the Red Sox. This year he came roaring out of the gate, with his average peaking at .358 in late May, thanks to hitting at a .402 clip that month.
Youkilis hit a solid .291 in March and April, and a mediocre .264 in June. For July, he's at .171.
An easy explanation would be an injury, since Youkilis missed six of eight games with tightness in his right quadriceps before the break. But Red Sox manager Terry Francona shot down that notion before the game.
"He seems like he's getting down the line fairly aggressively," Francona said. "I think he and the medical team both did a good job and the time [off] was well-spent. I think he's doing OK."
He might feel healthy, but after another tough night at the plate, his average hasn't been healthy. Youkilis flew to left field to end the first, then struck out in the third, missing a Javier Vazquez changeup. He ended the fifth with a grounder to short, but had a chance to redeem himself in the seventh when the Red Sox started a rally.
Singles by Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz put runners at first and third, and when Manny Ramírez flied to center -- smashing a ball about 410 feet to the triangle, with Jerry Owens hauling it in just a couple of feet left of the wall -- it was up to Youkilis, who stepped to the plate with two outs.
On the first pitch, Youkilis dived out of the way of a Ryan Bukvich offering that came high and inside, just missing his helmet. Then he took a strike on the outside corner, swung and missed at a pitch in a similar spot, and swung through a high, 93-mile-per-hour fastball to end the inning.
There's plenty of precedent on this squad for such extended misery in the batter's box, with J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo, and Coco Crisp all getting into -- and out of -- long slumps.
Francona thinks Youkilis will do the same.
"Every hitter goes through periods, that's why a lot of hitters don't hit .400," Francona said. "That's just the way the game is. Youk always gives you a good at-bat, regardless of how he feels at the plate."
Youkilis does have four walks in this current funk, and still sees plenty of pitches per at-bat. But if his recent silence is any indication, Youkilis is taking little solace in those numbers.
For the second straight night, Youkilis did not emerge from the nether regions of the clubhouse to address the media, leaving questions about his slump -- its sources and its effects -- unanswered.
