Derek Jeter’s hot bat has gotten a whole lot better

By On April 23, 2012 · 12 Comments · In Player Analysis

Possibly a lefty, but maybe a righty too.

Last week when was batting .361/.395/.528 I hypothesized that his hot start wouldn’t last, that it was a mirage. My logic was simple. Jeter was crushing left handed pitching to the totally unsustainable tune of a .617 wOBA. Against righties, however, his wOBA was an awful .272. Given that most pitchers are right handed, and that Jeter’s decline the past couple seasons has come against right handed pitching, logic dictated he couldn’t sustain his hot hitting. Once he began facing a more typical number of righties his overall numbers would begin to suffer.

So, here we are, a week later, and Jeter is batting .382/.411/.618. His wOBA is .432. In the past week Jeter’s number have gotten … better. That’s a lot of left-handed pitchers, right? That’s only partially true. While it’s true that Jeter has faced lefties in ten of the Yankees’ games and 24 of his plate appearances, he has now faced righties in 50 of his plate appearances. His season numbers against both types of pitching have begun to normalize. He’s still clobbering lefties. His wOBA is .595 against them, which is astounding (and unsustainable). Against righties, however, he’s started to hit, a lot. Jeter’s wOBA is now .365 against righties. That means that since I wrote my last post suggesting Jeter would not be able to sustain his hitting overall because he’s hit right handed pitching so poorly Derek has improved his numbers against righties almost astronomically. He’s gone from having a .272 wOBA against them to a .365 wOBA in a single week. That’s impressive.

1999 was the best season of Jeter’s career, when had a wOBA of .428. It is unlikley, therefore, that Jeter will be able to keep up his current torrid hitting. It would mean that he has the best season of his career in his late thirties. That’s unlikely. However, if Jeter is in the process of putting together a come back season he will need to do it the way he did when he was younger, crushing lefties, and hitting well against righties. Last week my hunch was that when Jeter’s numbers normalized his weakness against righties would be exposed. Instead, his hot hitting has started to benefit him when he’s facing righties. Derek has taken one step toward putting together a come back month, if it is too soon to say if this is a come back season, and one step closer to proving me wrong. I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

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12 Responses to Derek Jeter’s hot bat has gotten a whole lot better

  1. Rusty says:
    April 23, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    I’m wondering what’s his stats after his 3000th hit? It’s been said that Jeter was awful because of the pressure and when it was over with his stats just shot right up. I’m curious if those stats are basically the same as what we are seeing now.

    Reply
  2. Pete in Greensboro says:
    April 23, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    For the past several years every writer is just hoping that they can write about “Jeter’s demise” and how he should step aside or be moved down in the line up. When will you all realize he possibly one of the greatest Yankees of all time? I don’t know about you but I am scheduling my vacation trip for Cooperstown and framing my soon to be retired “# 2″ jersey!!

    Reply
  3. bob in winter haven florida says:
    April 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm

    I have been a Yankee fan my entire life and Derek Jeter is the epitome of Yankee greatness on and off the field. It is about time the rest of the sports world realizes this and give him the credit he is due!!!

    Reply
  4. MICKEY says:
    April 23, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    I just hope he doesn’t linger for a record like so many do. They end up embarrasing their great careers and detract from younger players waiting for their chance.

    He is one of so many great,great Yankees and needs to go out with class when the time comes, lets hope not for several more years.

    Reply
  5. Ynankee7 says:
    April 23, 2012 at 5:30 pm

    Jeter is undoubtedly the best hitting SS the Yankees have ever had and will go into the HoF someday. Maybe it is because I have seen the Joe D’s Ted Williams, Mickey Mantles and Willie Mays play, therefore I have seen some of the greatest to ever play…Jeter ain’t close to being in the same league as they are!
    But I don’t understand this junk about him being possibly one of the greatest Yankees of all time? Are you guys nuts?
    Yes he is the face of the Yankees and has done it well, he is the most PC guy I have ever seen…which is exactly what he needs to be the Face of the team.
    Let’s go down the line here; He leads the team all time in hits, DP, SO and the most trips to the plate….right?
    He hit a HR in November WS and has been called Captain Clutch ever since. He has one of the worse avg. on the team in clutch situations. He hasn’t hit a walk-of HIT let alone HR in years.You guys have been smoking something real bad if you think he belongs in the same class as the truly great; The Babe, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and many more.
    This is not a knock on Jeter by any means, it is just facts…he will be in the HoF and he should be but what MLB record has he set or broken? Being among 20+ players to hit 3,000 hits is great but nothing great about being one of so many.

    Reply
    • Yesterdays Wine says:
      April 23, 2012 at 10:14 pm

      So, let’s get this straight. The guy with the most hits of any Yankee all time is not great? Where’s a better Yankee SS or infielder other than Gehrig? He’s a lead-off or 2 spot hitter, not a slugger, although he does some slugging. And seriously, you’ve taken the handful of not just greatest Yankees, but greatest players of all time. By your standards, The Babe is a piker because he’s second to Hank in home-runs and in other categories. One man’s greatness doesn’t diminish another’s. Sure there’s a pecking order, but, hey…

      Jeter’s career postseason line in 152 games and 704 plate appearances is .307/.374/.465 with 20 homers, 59 RBI, an 18/23 success rate on the basepaths, 64 walks, and 125 strikeouts.

      Jeter’s 162 game average over his seventeen year career is .313/.383/.449 with 16 homers, 80 RBI, a 23/29 success rate on the bases, 66 walks, and 110 strikeouts.

      He’s pretty much the same guy in the fall that he is during the rest of the season.

      Not to fault Lou Gehrig, because he is one of the all time greats, but except for his ’28 and ’32 performances, he was pretty much Lou Gehrig at the bat. In fact, in ’36 & ’37, his performance was well below his regular season numbers. I leave aside ’38, because one can assume he was beginning to decline because of his illness.

      Reply
    • Jay says:
      April 24, 2012 at 2:29 pm

      I’m sorry, Ynankee7, but I respectfully disagree (and I also am old enough to have witnessed many of those players whom you mentioned). Others have responded with a variety of stats, metrics, and indices, and I’m not going to bother adding to those. Simply put, if you were to pick the Greatest Yankee Team from ALL of the Yankee teams throughout the years, Jeter would UNQUESTIONABLY be the shortstop, period. As such, he absolutely IS one of the greatest Yankees of all time (AND he has the hardware to show for it), and THAT was the issue to which you were responding; not whether or not he is greater than The Babe, Mantle, Gehrig, Joe D, and so forth. I promise you most sincerely that, 20 years from now and beyond, Jeter will universally be recognized as one of the greatest Yankees.

      Reply
    • AT Evans says:
      April 25, 2012 at 3:32 pm

      To reach 3000 hits takes a certain level of consistency, preparedness and work ethic.

      What makes Jeter so great, is the fact that he was not born a superstar or with any God given talents. He worked hard everyday and followed his dream.

      If Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle worked as hard as Jeter does now, and they perfected their god given talent, there is no telling what they could have accomplished.

      There is the major difference between Jeter and others though. At least we’ll never have to wonder what Jeter could have done if he gave it his all everyday and worked hard.

      It’s a shame that some people have the talent they do have, and just take it for granted. Jeter, as far as I know, has never taken anything for granted when it comes to this game.. even at age 10.

      Reply
  6. joseph serico says:
    April 23, 2012 at 9:00 pm

    Ynakee 7,
    Barring injury, by the end of this season Jeter will likely be among the top 15 in total hits in baseball history. While all of the yanks that you mentioned deserved to be called “greats”, none of them are among the 28 who achieved 3000 hits. In fact, Dickey and Berra are both about 1000 hits behind Jeter, Ruth 500 and Gehrig about 400.

    At 62, I have seen a lot of yankee baseball. Not sure when Jeter becomes a yankee great in your book but he qualifies for me…now.

    joe

    Reply
  7. James Peterson says:
    April 25, 2012 at 11:42 am

    to all u so call yankee fans leave the captian alone. Jeter is the best the man is human everyone has a bad stretch. just because he is on the yankees and is the bhest everyone picks on him leave the man alone find somene else how about picking on the Mets or boston

    Reply
  8. Derrick says:
    May 7, 2012 at 1:08 am

    I think it’s time for a new article on Jeter’s amazing season STILL.

    His triple slash as of May 5th 2012: .397/.439/.595/1.034
    He may just win the batting title this year if he can piece together a decent May and June. WOW

    Reply

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