It’s no secret the Yankee offense has been in something of a funk lately. They’ve scored 4 runs or less in 8 of the past 10 games, including a particularly weak total of 5 runs in a 3 game set against the Tigers. To be sure, last night’s game was on Joba and the recent losing streak has been a combination of bad defense and a bad start from Nova, but this Yankee offense hasn’t done much lately to overcome those problems. While overall lineups can often be over rated, groupings of hitters is important. So lets take a quick look at last night’s lineup and see if there’s anything that could use some tweaking. (courtesy of ESPN)
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D Jeter SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | .268 | .314 | .331 |
| C Granderson CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 | .275 | .347 | .626 |
| M Teixeira 1B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | .252 | .381 | .528 |
| A Rodriguez 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | .261 | .360 | .478 |
| R Cano 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .285 | .315 | .547 |
| N Swisher RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 18 | .221 | .338 | .311 |
| J Posada DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | .165 | .272 | .349 |
| R Martin C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | .255 | .356 | .510 |
| B Gardner LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .260 | .353 | .413 |
First thing that jumps out at me is Jeter. If someone named Joe Smith was producing at that level, he’d be hitting at the bottom of the lineup. Now of course, Derek has a 15 year resume that has to be factored in, but those who want to argue ‘its just a slow start’ must have missed the 2008 and 2010 seasons. More and more, 2009 appears to be the outlier with Derek. Watching his ABs this year and last, he certainly looks like a player whose best days are behind him.
Brett Gardner has been one of the Yanks hottest hitters, hitting .414/.541/.483 in the last 14 days, and .321/.433/.554 in the last 28 days (h/t IATMS). He’s earned a return to the top of the Yankee order. At first glance Russell Martin also seems way too low, given his production this year. But he’s been cold the past few weeks. After a red hot start, Martin has slumped and has just 8 hits in his past 51 ABs (.158).
Simply batting Gardner first seems to solve a few issues. It pushes Swisher and Posada down to 7 and 8, with Martin’s good on base skills and above average speed at the bottom of the lineup for the double leadoff effect they now enjoy with Gardner. But if you bat Gardner leadoff and leave Derek at #2, what do you do with Granderson? The #3 rightfully belongs to Tex, and the 3-5 is pretty set on the Yanks. Curtis is one of the best Yankee hitters, you want to give him as many ABs as possible. Again, Derek becomes the obstacle to grouping your best hitters together and making your lineup optimal.
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Here’s one way to shake it up, keeping in mind that Girardi will never move Jeter past the 2-spot:
1- Gardner
2- Jeter
3- Granderson
4- Cano
5- A-rod
6- Tiex
7- Jorge Vasquez… I mean Posada :(
8- Swisher
9- Martin (2nd leadoff guy)
(you can switch 7/8)
cut jones..send pena down.. bring up parraz to play right and vasques to spell posada..you shake up with new, not with changing a few spots in the lineup. now a message is sent. but i like your line up just add parraz
3 weeks ago Brett Gardner sucked and should have been sent to the minors according to some, or batted last in the lineup. Now he has been hot for a few weeks and there is clamor to lead him off. A few weeks ago, many wished Nunez could start for Jeter. That is baseball. Peaks and valleys. Patience is a virtue… water seeks it level… however you want to look at it. I don’t think the manager should be changing the line-up constantly based on how guys are performing over a 2-3 week period. It is too difficult to predict and the players are people not computers and I would think are impacted by being moved around constantly.
posada and swisher are more than 100 at bats..thats eneough of a time to figure it out..if it is two three guys ..ok..but not when 7 are in a funk and with your bench very weak..you need to sit some down
water does not get old or hurt or go through slumps..it does the same thing ..follows gravity to the lowest point..then levels out.. but these are humans .. i totally agree with you..just need to make some tough calls on vet. players
Sadly the Jeter problem was entirely predictable when they signed him to a ridiculous 3 years + option contract. Not only are the Yanks more-or-less forced to bat Jeter #1 or #2, they’re probably barred from pinch-hitting for him. IMHO in a clutch situation late in the game, and Jeter up facing a RH pitcher, it should be routine to pinch hit for him, particularly after Chavez gets well.
why are they forced to bat him 1 or 2? the only thing they are forced to do is honor the contract.. but jeter will get his 175 hits this year..
who pinch hits for swisher, posada, tex
Gardner L
Swisher S
Cano L cuz a career .300+ hitter should be batting third
Teixiera S
Rodriguez R
Granderson L
Martin R
Posada S through May, Montero DH June 1-??? if Posada sucks (to me posts under .240 BA and .350 OBP)
Jeter ninth R
Too bad if he doesn’t like it. If he doesn’t like it, he can retire this season after he collects his 3000th hit, retire at season’s end, or request an offseason trade. $41M cleared after this season.
No matter what happens with the lineup you can not take Granderson out of the 2 hole against right handed batters, he is too much of a fire starter for this team. He is currently also the best hitter on the team, any move that would drop him to the bottom half of the lineup is foolish. He brings spped, and power to the two hole, and no one on the team brings that combination to any spot in the order like he does.
The problem with having Gardner hit 1 and Granderson 2 is that it leaves you vulnerable to the left handed relief specialist for the first 3 batters in the order. In that scenario you can bring in the LOOGY for Gardner, keep him in for Granderson, and then leave him in to turn Teixeira to his weaker side before bringing in the righty to face Alex.