The Yankees offense isn’t struggling, but it’s clearly not in peak form. Many apologists, in the form of team centric blogs, will point out they lead the American League in runs scored. That is true, however, 51 runs (23%) have come against the Baltimore Orioles. The same Orioles that are next to last in the AL in pitching. Take away those six games, and the Yankees 5.1 runs per game turns into 4.6. It’s still good enough for third in the American League, but not the powerhouse everyone anticipated. Even their seven run outburst against Chris Capuano and the Mets was tainted by a couple of cheap homers. Clearly, the offense is nowhere near my six runs per game potential I cited a couple of weeks ago.

So what is the problem? Curtis Granderson and Russell Martin are having career years. Mark Teixeira is driving in runs. Brett Gardner has returned to 2010 levels since a slow start. Alex Rodriguez isn’t the A-Rod of old, but he is just as effective as during the 2009 championship season. Although Robinson Cano isn’t performing at the level of last year, he still is the best at his position. Granderson’s hot start has made up all of the difference anyway. The struggles of Jeter and Posada are well chronicled, but Jeter is performing similarly to last year, and Posada’s production will be addressed if he doesn’t start to perform at a league average level. That is where the real culprit, in my opinion, comes into play: Nick Swisher.

Swisher is hitting so poorly the Yankees would be better off with Melky Cabrera or Jeff Francoeur in the lineup. He’s gone from a power hitting, OBP machine to no power and not nearly as many walks as the past. The .288 batting average of a year ago probably was a mirage- you could live with a .250 hitting Swisher- but one that doesn’t hit for power or get on base will simply not cut it. This version is worse than the one that led to Chicago giving him away, literally, to the Yankees after the 2008 season.

Right now, a struggling Swisher creates a Yankees lineup that is only six deep. If A-Rod’s hip is acting up its only five. That is not enough to cut it with their pitching staff, especially with Yankee Stadium playing smaller every day. Even the best of staffs is going to give up runs in the Cathedral Part Deux.

In order for the Yankees to win what is shaping up to be a competitive three team AL East, they need Swisher. They can fix the DH spot (think Carlos Beltran), but I am not sure they can import both a DH and better than average outfielder. Not if they want to hold on to their top prospects. They need Swisher to lengthen the bottom of the lineup. If not, I suspect there will be more nights like the one we saw on Friday versus R.A. Dickey. That will lead to a place they don’t want to be: third in the American League East.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: New York Yankees, Nick Swisher