Earlier this week Hot Stove New York was excited to feature an exclusive Q&A with Yankees center fielder Brett Gardner. Today, HSNY’s Rob Abruzzese catches up with Yanks forgotten man Shelley Duncan, who struggled with injury and inconsistent playing time this season and now is working hard at getting back to baseball.

Last year’s Yankees were much like this year’s model. A team with a questionable pitching staff which was expected to be carried by its offense, but both teams struggled to score runs out of the gate.

The difference between the two teams is that last year’s version broke out and had a huge second half. One small role player who had a great contribution was Shelley Duncan. In just 74 at bats Duncan hit seven homers with 17 RBI’s with a .883 OPS.

This season it looked like he would take an even bigger role possibly as part of a platoon with Jason Giambi at first. It looked like a good match: Giambi, who only averaged about 50 games played in the field over the last three seasons, would need lots of time off and Duncan could give him that against tough lefties.

Well early on Duncan struggled and Giambi looked healthy in the field. That caused Duncan to miss playing time. Then a shoulder separation which looked season ending took Duncan out of the Bronx for good.

Hot Stove NY caught up with Duncan this week and sat down with him for a brief interview to talk about his thoughts on 2008.

Hot Stove: It’s been a hard season for you this year. You broke with the club, but because of injuries you haven’t been back. Can you tell me a little bit about how your season is going?

Shelley Duncan: Individually I usually don’t like to look at seasons like that, but if I was going to analyze it, it has probably been one of the hardest seasons for me in my professional career.

HS: What was the hardest part, the injury or the lack of playing time when you were healthy?

SD: Well, I have been put into a lot of situations that were new to me that I had to learn how to deal with. Some of it was harder for me to learn and get used to than I had hoped. I think the whole season I’ve been fighting to try to be myself. That’s one thing I haven’t been able to do this year. I continue to keep trying to do that.

HS: Aside from one brief stint in the minors you were with the Yankees this season until June, but only managed to to get 57 at bats. Tell me about that.

SD: It’s frustrating at first. You want to get in there as much as you can. There is a lot of stuff that it just helps you out when you’re in there with consistency. It was the role that I had – to tell you the truth, it is hard to find the role that I had. I had a hard time knowing what my spot on the team was and I never really felt comfortable with it.

HS: What did you think your role was?

SD: I thought I was a player who would get at bats against lefties, but there were a lot of lefties that I didn’t play against. I was sitting a lot of time and I didn’t get in there and it caused me to lose a lot of feel. I tried really hard to learn how to fit that position and that was something I really struggled hard with to get down. There are a lot of people in this game that do that great and make a good living doing it.

HS: The way the roster is built this year it still looks like the Yankees will need a right handed bat off the bench, do you think you’ll get another shot?

SD: I suppose someday that’s going to be my role wherever I play and I need to learn how to do it. I just had a really hard time doing it. I think if my role was a little more defined and a little more consistent I could achieve some success there.

HS: Can you tell me about the injury and how that has affected your season?

SD: Initially I thought the season was done. I thought it was something that I needed surgery for and my initial thought was coming back for next year. But they told me to give it a shot without surgery and to try to rehab it. So I busted my ass as hard as I could and it got better everyday and it allowed me to get back in five weeks.

HS: How are you feeling today?

SD: Health wise everything is outstanding and baseball wise when you sit out a while you loose a little bit of feeling. I’m struggling to get that back and fortunately I have patient coaches. Coaches who are willing to help me out and put in a lot of extra work in the cages with me to help me get back to where I was. That’s where I’m at.

HS: What are you playing for today? Are you eying a shot at being called up again before the season ends?

SD: Today I’m only focused on playing and I’m trying to finish up the season strong and to help this team win the Governor’s Cup. I’m trying to keep my mind off of other things that I can’t control. I’m just trying to play baseball.

HS: Yeah, but you have to think that a guy like you with major league experience has a decent shot at being a September call up.

SD: It’s not even on my mind at all. To be dead honest, I’ve pushed myself really hard to come back and be a part of this club (the Scranton Yankees) and to win a championship in this league. That’s dead honest, that’s the only thing on my mind. We have a great group of guys and it’s a lot of fun being on this club honestly. I’m just focused on day to day and helping this team win today. Nothing else is even on my mind.

Many thanks to Shelley Duncan for taking the time to speak with us.