NEW YORK -- Robinson Cano hears the whispers, even if he refuses to look over his shoulder. To do so would only compound the disappointment the Yankees second baseman fights each day.
Playing through the final month of a frustrating season, Cano has been stung by criticism labeling his on-field effort as nonchalant. Yet those adjectives have been meaningless compared to the cold splash of reality Cano feels each time sees a batting average hovering in the .260s, wondering why it belongs to him.
"I don't want to say this is a bad year, but it's at least a year that I'm going to learn from and not be back in this situation again," Cano said. "This is a year that you can just say, 'OK, this is not happening again.'"
The Yankees hope so, and they are preparing steps to move in that direction. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long plans to travel to the Dominican Republic to work with Cano in November. The work there will be extensive and represents a complete overhaul of the infielder's swing.
The promise is of a completely revamped player in advance of Spring Training. Long outlined pieces of his blueprint for Cano by eliminating excess action, while putting him in a better position to hit, squaring up more with the pitcher. Addressing Cano's strike-zone discipline is also high on the to-do list.
"You're going to see a huge difference visually," Long said. "You'll see less movement, an explosive, compact swing, and you'll probably see more home runs. I think his average will go way up and I think his walks will go way up."
Cano completed the Yankees' 10-game road trip batting .261 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs in 143 games. His .295 on-base percentage is among baseball's lowest for regular players, and after Cano went hitless on Wednesday at Anaheim, he had not walked in his last 99 plate appearances, a sure sign that his plate discipline has gone backward.
"At a point there, it was moving in the right direction," Long said. "I'll take blame for it, but he's got to take blame for it, too. You can't go up there and continue to expand the zone and swing at pitches that you can't drive."
The Yankees were aware of the storm clouds brewing with Cano, even when New York placed a four-year, $30 million wager that the 25-year-old would continue to improve. Even if Cano wasn't going by the book mechanically, Long said, he was still able to achieve great results in the batter's box, leaving no options to do but watch and wait.
"You can't [overhaul] a guy that's had that much success," Long said. "I think he's still going to be a real good player. He's got to make some changes with the mechanics of his swing, but coming in with all the success that he'd had doing it that way, there's really not much anyone could do other than just let him go with it."
