Alex Rodriguez Under Pressure: Truly That Bad in the Clutch?

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Alex Rodriguez has been given grief for not succeeding in the clutch, but is that necessarily justified?

Although he is having a poor season, likely due to his hip injury, Rodriguez has been clutch recently for the Yankees.

His two-run home run last night put the Yankees up 5-3, and just last week, he put the Yankees up on a two-run bases-loaded single. Still, most of A-Rod's doubters demean his ability in the clutch.

Intrigued by this notion, I decided to compare him to the "Insanely Clutch" Derek Jeter.

In the postseason, Jeter bats .309 while the terrible Rodriguez bats about .280. Jeter is a better playoff hitter, but let's compare their performance in the ALCS, which is the furthest that Rodriguez has gone in the playoffs.

In his ALCS appearances, Rodriguez hit .315 with four home runs and 10 RBI.

In seven ALCS appearances, Jeter hit just .262 with five home runs and 30 RBI. Jeter hits 50 points lower with just one more home run, and he has played in 41 ALCS games where Rodriguez has played in just 14.

So, if you put those numbers in perspective, the further A-Rod gets in the postseason, the better he hits.

Also, in their most recent series against the Indians, Rodriguez hit .267 while Jeter hit a pathetic .176.

Also, for their careers, Jeter and Rodriguez hit almost exactly the same with RISP. Rodriguez hits .309 while Jeter hits .311.

Rodriguez also claims over 300 more career RBI with RISP and 97 more home runs in that situation.

This goes to show Rodriguez is just as clutch as Derek Jeter. Believe it or not, but stats aren't biased, and they certainly don't lie!

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