SEATTLE — Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano reaped further recognition Monday for his hot start — and his weekend shelling of the Houston Astros — when he was picked as the American League’s player of the week.
So … a question:
Is it possible the person most responsible for Cano’s torrid production is former coach Andy Van Slyke? Cano broke into a wide grin, threw back his head and laughed loudly.
“That’s a good one,” Cano said as he nodded his head. “You got me.”
Recall that it was Van Slyke who, having been fired in an organizational shakeup, blistered Cano last November in a radio interview as “just the most awful player I have ever seen.”
Van Slyke blamed Cano’s performance early last season for subsequent firings of general manager Jack Zduriencik, manager Lloyd McClendon and nearly all of the coaching staff.
The comments stunned Cano and provided no small amount of motivation. Cano is also healthy, of course, after batting a stomach ailment early last season and playing the final two months with a sports hernia that required off-season surgery.
The difference, by any measure, is stunning.
Cano entered Monday’s series opener against Tampa Bay as the majors’ co-leader with 12 home runs and undisputed leader with 33 RBI. His average, which had lagged, was up to .305 after a 16-for-31 week that led to his award.
“Robinson Cano was Superman this series,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said after Sunday’s conclusion to the four-game set in Houston. “He found a way to remind us that you can’t make any pitches to him when he’s hot.”
Cano was also pretty good earlier in the week in three games at Oakland, where he went 7-for-13 in helping the Mariners to a three-game sweep. But he simply torched the Astros: 9-for-18 with three homers and seven RBI.
“I’ve been looking for my pitch,” he said. “I’m not trying to do too much. I’m just trying to work the middle of the field.”
Cano is 14-for-30 overall this season in seven games against the Astros with seven home runs and 17 RBI. His personal best for RBI against one club in a single season is 18 against Boston in 2006 while playing for the Yankees.
“He’s getting paid a lot of money for a reason,” said Houston ace Dallas Keuchel, who surrendered three hits Saturday to Cano in four at-bats. “He seems like he’s healthy and seeing the ball well right now.”
Cano won the player-of-the-week award on six previous occasions, but those citations all occurred while he played for New York: once in 2005, twice in 2007, twice in 2010 and once in 2012.
Three Mariners won the award last year: Nelson Cruz (April 20) , Brad Miller (May 18) and Hisashi Iwakuma (Aug. 17).
Contrast Cano’s current production with a year ago when, through May 8, he was batting .263 with one homer and eight RBI. His average eventually dipped to .238 as late as June 30 before he surged over the final three months.
“As a player, you go home, you prepare yourself for a good season,” he said. “The best thing is to start (well) early. An example is myself last year. I had a tough first half. Thank God, I was able to bounce back in the second half.
“But you want to start (well) from the first game of the year… It’s good to win an award, but the best thing is to help the team win. That’s all that matters here. Win games.”
The Mariners, at 18-13, entered the week atop the American League West Division. A year ago through May 8, they were 12-17 and already 61/2 games out of first place.
“For me,” Cano said, “it doesn’t mean anything to have a great season if you know you’re going to go home in September. You’ve also got to give credit that we have a great coaching staff.”
Zing.
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