Boland: Gardner has taken off, just as he did in college

John Pawlowski recalled pulling Brett Gardner aside early in the centerfielder's junior season at the College of Charleston.

"I told him, 'Brett, you can hit it to the left side of second base; it's legal,' " said Pawlowski, Gardner's coach at Charleston from 2002-05 and now Auburn's coach.

Pawlowski has seen a parallel between Gardner's development at the College of Charleston, where he was a recruited walk-on and flourished in his third season, and his professional career. "His junior year is when he started to figure it out," Pawlowski said.

Gardner, who was the Yankees' third-round pick in 2005 and made his big-league debut in 2008, has shown indications of doing that this year. He's gotten on base a variety of ways - including, yes, slapping the ball to the left of second base with some regularity.

General manager Brian Cashman said Gardner, who won the centerfield job last season but then lost it to Melky Cabrera, actually was playing pretty well in 2009 when he broke his thumb July 25 while breaking up a double play against Oakland. He was hitting .275 at the time.

But there's no question Gardner has been more complete this year, both in the field (he has a better throwing arm "than he's given credit for," Cashman said) and especially at the plate.

Gardner brings a .346 average into this weekend's series against the Red Sox and, more impressive, a .430 on-base percentage, highest of any of the Yankees' regulars. In addition to scoring 22 runs, second most behind Robinson Cano's 23, Gardner is 13-for-14 in stolen bases.

He's been on a roll since taking over for the injured Curtis Granderson in center and is hitting .444 with a .516 OBP in the last eight games. It was thought he'd sit against lefties, but Gardner is hitting .370 against them.

Coming into spring training, the Yankees figured Gardner would start either in leftfield or centerfield - more likely left after the acquisition of Granderson - but Cashman and manager Joe Girardi made it clear that the 26-year-old would have to earn his spot.

"You have to prove yourself," Girardi said multiple times.

The 5-10 Gardner repeatedly said that was just fine. "That's the way it's been for me, always," he said.

Pawlowski backed that up, saying that even during Gardner's senior year, when he hit .447, he still approached game day as if he were a walk-on.

"Brett Gardner is a guy who goes on the field every day to prove he belongs," Pawlowski said. "And that's a good trait."

Gardner's defense was never a question, but few fans were comfortable with the prospect of his being an everyday player because of concerns about his offense. A spring training in which he hit .200 with a .286 OBP didn't help.

But starting with the season opener in Boston, when he had two hits, Gardner has looked comfortable and patient at the plate. Gardner has 11 walks and only nine strikeouts in 94 plate appearances.

"His strike-zone discipline is so good, if you don't throw him strikes, he's going to walk," hitting coach Kevin Long said recently.

As important, if not more, the speedy Gardner is hitting the ball on the ground 51.2 percent of the time.

"He knows he doesn't want the ball in the air," Long said. "His swing is conducive to hitting the ball on the ground."

And although some of Gardner's numbers aren't likely to stay in the stratosphere, Cashman, like Pawlowski, said not to assume a big dip.

"Every level he's been at, he's been told he's not going to be good enough, and he's defined himself by showing that he'll be successful," Cashman said. "We're counting on that, and right now he's on time."