These numbers are accurate as of the start of yesterday’s game because I wrote this last night (as I type, Jesus Montero is batting in the top of the 8th).
If you remember all the way back to early August, I wrote a post comparing the Yankee hitters to their counterparts at the various positions around the league. Almost two months later, let’s see how each player ended up relative to his peers.
Catcher
: .237/.324/.408
Average AL Catcher: .239/.305/.392
Positional Adjustments: 99/106/104
We all know that batting average is Satan so I’m not too concerned that Martin was just below the average catcher’s batting average. He out OBP’d (10.5% walk rate) and out SLG’d (.172 Iso) your typical catcher and that’s all we could hope for.
First Base
: .246/.340/.484
Average AL First Baseman: .271/.340/.451
Positional Adjustments: 90/100/107
The good thing is that the numbers have an upward trend from right to left. The bad news is that Tex was barely above average at the plate as a first baseman this year.
Second Base
: .304/.352/.536
Average AL Second Baseman: .263/.321/.400
Positional Adjustments: 115/109/134
This needs no expanding upon.
Third Base
: .276/.362/.471
Average AL Third Baseman: .246/.315/.392
Positional Adjustment: 112/114/120
The hot corner did not provide its usual strong offense this year and because of that, A-Rod’s sub-A-Rod year doesn’t look so bad when we compare his numbers to his fellow third basemen.
Shortstop
: .298/.356/.390
Average AL Shortstop: .266/.321/.386
Positional Adjustments: 112/110/101
A second half surge made 2011 a little more Derek Jeter than we thought. Despite his relatively weak performance this year (which obviously got a lot better later on), he’s still besting your average shortstop. That’s nothing new, though, and it’s something we’ve probably started to take for granted.
Left Field
: .259/.344/.369
Average AL Left Fielder: .251/.312/.394
Positional Adjustments: 103/110/93
Nothing too surprising here. Gardner, a valuable offensive player, was better than his mates when it came to OBP and below them when it came to slugging. That .394 collective SLG from LF shocked me most out of anything here.
Center Field
: .262/.354/.553
Average AL Center Fielder: .260/.318/.411
Positional Adjustments: 101/111/134
Like Cano, this needs little discussion. The batting average wasn’t there, but who cares? Curtis got on base and ripped the cover off the ball.
Right Field
: .260/.377/.447
Average AL Right Fielder: .267/.337/.431
Positional Adjustments: 97/111/103
Swisher didn’t hit for as much power as he normally does this year, but his supreme on base skills were on full display. Throw in his solid fielding this year and you’ve got a valuable outfielder.
Designated Hitter (Do we have to?)
: .237/.313/.401
Average AL Designated Hitter: .266/.341/.431
Positional Adjustments: 89/91/93
Yeah we don’t need to rehash this too much. The Yankees got awful production out of their DH all year. Luckily, the slack was picked up for the rest of the lineup.
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I’d like to note that the Yanks’ averages exhibited high variance within the period. Swish and Jeter, first v. second halves, Russell and Tex, hot start, Gardner picked up in the middle. Diversity worked for us as well.