The good news for longtime Orioles second baseman turned Yankees second baseman Brian Roberts is that he’s stayed healthy this season after injuries derailed his career for most of the past four years and has already played his most games since 2009.
The bad news is that he hasn’t been particularly good for the Yankees, hitting just .237 with five homers and a .659 OPS in 91 games while struggling at times defensively, and now Yankees manager Joe Girardi says Roberts will be given some time off because “he’s been beat up this year, physically.”
Girardi says it’s “general soreness” for the 36-year-old Roberts rather than any specific injury and it seems likely that Roberts’ lack of production has made the idea of giving him time off more appealing. Kelly Johnson is close to coming back from the disabled list and could see some action at second base in place of Roberts, who’s hitting just .194 since a four-hit, three-double game on July 4.
