Comments on: Yankee Panky: The Writes of Spring

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:31:07 +0000

I really don’t care where Jeter hits, as long as he continues to spray it all over to set the table, yay for us! Perhaps Teixeira is beyond his “notoriously slow starts” this year. I’m certainly looking forward to watching a Yankee 1B hit for both average and power in Silver Slugger fashion from year to year again for the first time since Donnie was playing, and we get GG defense to boot! Tino was clutch to be sure, but he wasn’t a .300 hitter annually for us like Mattingly was. If Mark can play like that, and maybe push his lifetime average above .300, eight years is fine with me. He may even last longer if he stays healthy.

Will there be a black armband this year for Johnny Blanchard? Are there guidelines for the bands and numbers when there is a death in the Yankees extended family? It seems they should be wearing them just about every year I’m afraid.

Thanks in advance for answering.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:56:50 +0000

[9][10] There is no doubt that Jeter hit into a lot of DPs last year, no matter how you slice the numbers. On the one hand, some of hitting into DP is the product of coming up with men on base. In Jeter’s case it is clear that he is becoming more and more of a ground ball hitter.

I’m not convinced that moving him to the leadoff spot will eliminate *that* many DPs, though last year it was his worst DP inning. At the same time, Jeter’s problem with GIDP is perhaps somewhat exaggerated. I mean, it’s not good to hit into DP. But it would be more telling if we could compare the worst DP offenders with the league average (as opposed to, say Damon, who is fast, bats left AND hist leadoff, so he has the least opportunities to GIDP). What is the difference between worst and average, about 10 0r 15 outs.

You can take that *if* the player remains productive with the bat otherwise. Of course, if Jeter’s numbers continue to slide AND he continues to rap into DP, well that’s not very good.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:01:20 +0000

For those with 502 or more PAs during 2008, here are the worst DP% guys:

NAME TEAM DP DP% NETDP
V Guerrero ANA 30 22.1% 13.34
M Tejada HOU 33 21.3% 16.22
S Schumaker SLN 22 21.1% 9.53
Y Escobar ATL 26 20.3% 11.59
M Ordonez DET 29 20.0% 11.88
B Molina SFN 23 19.2% 10.38
J Peralta CLE 27 19.1% 10.77
J Loney LAN 29 18.9% 11.11
Y Betancourt SEA 24 18.5% 9.11
D Jeter NYA 26 17.9% 8.99

By: a.O

a.O — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:44:57 +0000

[8] Wow, Jeet’s off the charts for ’08. What’s the standard deviation?

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:39:52 +0000

2008 Yankees DP percentage (DP/DP opps)
NETDP: The number of additional double plays generated versus an average player with the same number of opportunities. Negative NET DP indicates that fewer double plays than average were produced.
(I’m only listing major lineup contributors)

NAME DP DP% NETDP
Ivan Rodriguez 6 37.5% 4.21
Derek Jeter 26 17.9% 8.99
Jorge Posada 8 17.1% 2.41
Wilson Betemit 8 16.3% 2.18
Jose Molina 11 16.1% 2.73
Robinson Cano 21 14.5% 4.11
Hideki Matsui 14 13.9% 1.94
Alex Rodriguez 18 13.7% 2.90
Melky Cabrera 17 12.2% 0.92
Xavier Nady 6 11.1% -0.04
Bobby Abreu 18 8.4% -4.59
Johnny Damon 8 6.8% -3.29
Jason Giambi 10 5.4% -6.43

By: a.O

a.O — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:33:13 +0000

[6] Agreed. This reminds me of Girardi’s comment on the need for “a set lineup.” I would give Gardner a shot at leadoff a few times if he were batting as well as you describe after a month or so. The main reason for that is his speed and my fond memories of the great Rickey basically creating a run by himself in the first innings of numerous games.

And, if I’m being perfectly honest with myself, I want to see Gardner get a shot at hitting leadoff because I feel like Torre, Girardi, and the Yankees generally, have the same problem I saw with Lou for so long in Seattle: Veteran Worship.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:16:08 +0000

[5] Point taken. Damon has been a leadoff guy and has had fewer GIDP opportunities. However, his OBP numbers at that position were a concern. … The mentality you describe re: Gardner plays into the old Joe Torre argument. If Gardner shows a propensity of getting on base better than a .370 – .380 clip, by all means he should hit leadoff. But he’s not a lock to even be the starter for an extended period of time, so to heap that on him at this stage seems premature.

By: a.O

a.O — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:53:37 +0000

Of course Damon is going to hit into fewer double plays over a career if he’s always hitting in the first inning with no one on base. Perhaps this doesn’t explain all the variability, but it surely explains some of it.

Another interesting point that hasn’t been mentioned much is the fact that Jeter is no longer a base stealer. I think “Gardy” should hit leadoff and Damon should drop down.

By: Rob Abruzzese

Rob Abruzzese — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:23:00 +0000

It’s good to see a manager who actually cares about how stats affect ball games. Don’t forget the game has a pulse? Don’t forget the winning team is the one who scores more runs.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:14:20 +0000

[2]
sorry

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:11:21 +0000

@1 … I didn’t want to go there.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:54:25 +0000

[1]

I have two words for John Cena ….

“Chris Benoit”