Are Alex Rodriguez having Best Days Behind Him

It seems like the wear and tear of a lengthy baseball season is starting to take its toll on Alex Rodriguez, or maybe it really is his body recovering for the use of steroids over the past couple of years, who really knows? The fact is that A-Rod is being given one day off a week from now right through to the all star break as he just can't seem to handle the rigor of everyday baseball right now. However, it has only been six weeks since surgery on his right hip, but the team and Rodriguez both expected him to bounce back from the surgery and play right away. The A-Rod of old has simply disappeared and it is becoming evident that his body just cannot keep up the way that it used to.

The plan for the scheduled day off came on a suggestion from Dr. Marc Philippon who actually performed the surgery in the first place. When told about the plan Rodriguez almost even sounded a little bit excited saying that the doctor knows what he is taking about and that a break every week will be good for him. This is a far cry from so many of the players out there that hate to even miss one game and have been seen limping on the field just to stay in the action. But of all the names he has been called before, no one has ever called Rodriguez a team player.

So far in June Rodriguez has batted just .153 with two home runs and 11 RBI's. That is not the production that he is used to and not the production that the Yankees need from him either. Overall he is batting just .213 and has 9 home runs and just 28 RBI's in 40 games that he has played in so far this 2009 MLB season.

Joe Girardi is planning to give the "all-star" two days off per week when the team has an off day. This week he was given Monday off as the team did not play and will sit out one of the games during the team's three game set against the Atlanta Braves. The hope for the team is that after the All-Star break that Rodriguez will be back to full strength and be able to play the way he is capable of. The Yankees really need him to step up if they have any hopes of catching the AL East leading Boston Red Sox and becoming the team that everyone expected them to be this season.

While the team is optimistic there are a lot of baseball fans and experts that are starting to wonder if Rodriguez really can bounce back and play the way that everyone is used to seeing him play. If his best days are behind him, then it is disappointing for a lot of fans out there and very disappointing for the Yankees as they are still on the hook for an extremely large salary for quite a few years still to come.

All discussion surrounding Rodriguez seems to come back to steroids theses days and it really is a sad black mark on his fantastic career so far. However it is hard for everyone to wonder if this fall from grace is really due to his body reacting to the years of steroid use that abruptly stopped. There is no concrete proof that Rodriguez was involved with steroids for years, but there is some evidence out there. Here is to hoping that this perennial all star can bounce back and prove that he can still play at the top of his game, without help from any sort of banned substance.