Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Yankees a Different Team vs. Lefties


Despite their anemic offensive output against left handed pitching this season, the New York Yankees are 4-3 against left handed starters this season. A lot like last night, the Yankees have been able to scratch and claw their way to victories against lefties when it looked like they were completely out of the game.

The Yankees did the little things to score enough runs to win last night against Tampa’s lefty ace David Price. Combine that with Phil Hughes’ strong performance, and that is how the Yankees will have to beat lefties until the reinforcements come. Eduardo Nunez went first to third that lead to a run in the fourth inning. Then,in the eighth inning, Ichiro went first to third on a hit-and-run single by Jayson Nix, which led to the Yankees tying the score at two. The Yankees had a similar win against tough Arizona lefty Wade Miley when Brett Gardner got a clutch two out hit to tie the game at three in the seventh inning. Manufacturing runs like that is how the Yankees are going to have to score against lefties.

The Yankees’ slash line against lefties this year is a paltry .190/.262/.299/.561 and against righties it is .301/.368/.533/.901. They have performed by far the best against righties in MLB and about the worst against lefties. This is a stark difference from Yankees teams of the past, as the Yankees have always had a balanced lineup that could hit lefties and righties equally. The Yankees always had a few switch hitters in their lineup and they have not had an at bat from a switch hitter all season. The last two days the lineup has looked exceptionally brutal with the likes of Ben Francisco batting second  and fifth and fifth Francico Cervelli batting fifth on Monday. Obviously the loss of Kevin Youkilis the last few days has hurt, even though he has not hit lefties this year. There is really not much Joe Girardi can do, as he has a very sorry hand to deal with against lefties.

The Yankees probably will not continue to perform this bad against lefties the whole season because it would be historic if they did, but this will be a problem the whole season that needs to be addressed. Vernon Wells (.333/.375/.600.975) and Brett Gardner (.250/.306/.438/.743) and 7 RBI have been the only players performing against lefties this season. Mark Teixeira has performed very well against lefties the last few years, so he will provide a boost when he comes back. However, he will not be able to turn this around by himself.

Youkilis and Robinson Cano need to perform much better against lefties then they have been. Youkilis has been abysmal against them this year, as he has 1 hit in 19 Abs against them this year with a .142 wOBA. That is a very small sample size, and Youkilis does have a great .918 career OPS against lefties, so he should be able to turn it around. Cano had issues against lefties last season and they have carried over into this season. He did hit a home run against Matt Moore on Monday, so maybe that is a positive sign, but the Yankees really need him to get back being to the balanced hitter that he used to be.

This is an issue that could have been seen a mile away this offseason. It started when the Yankees signed Ichiro to create and all lefty starting outfield of Ichiro, Granderson and Gardner. Ichiro was abysmal against lefties in 2012, Gardner has never hit them consistently in his career and Granderson also struggled mightily against them in 2012. I believe that the Ichiro signing was an ownership move and not a Brian Cashman move, but either way it was a terrible one. What Cashman could have done is find a much better utility option than Jayson Nix and a much better righty DH than Ben Francisco. Obviously, Cashman did not expect to be without Derek Jeter for so long, but still Nix should have been upgraded on. Francisco provides no value at all and they should really cut bait with him now.

Right now there is really nobody Cashman can get outside of the organization, as nobody is willing to give away pieces yet, although he will have to by the trade deadline. Zolio Almonte (.263/.411/.404/.814) and David Adams (.317/.417/.463/.880) are both off to very good starts at Triple A and should be brought up to replace Nix and Francisco. Ronnier Mustelier is another option, but he has not played yet this year due to injury. Adams could play third and Almonte can DH or play the outfield. Nix has struck out an incredible 16 out of 43 at bats already, which is just dreadful for a non power hitter and obviously Francisco has done nothing.

It is a miracle that the Yankees have a 4-3 record this year against lefties with the lineup they are throwing out there, which is a testament to the grit and toughness they have shown this year. However, it will be hard to keep up that pace with the current hitters they have in the lineup, so either they will need to improve, which is doubtful, or go in a different direction and call up some reinforcements.

30 comments:

  1. Melky and Tori Hunter were both there for the taking and signed for the same 2 years and comprable money to Ichiro. They would have been better options in RF and the yanks didn't even make an attempt from what I read.

    Mustelier is back playing games in Extended Spring training so he may be an option soon over Francisco. Cano needs to do more of what he did last night against price.....shorten his swing a bit, use the whole field and take base hits vs tough lefties.

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  2. Melky off roids so far looks pretty much like he did with the Yankees but really anybody but Ichiro would have been better

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  3. Hindsight is always 20/20, although Ichiro won that game last night for the Yanks, going first to third and scoring on a ground out, and then getting the big hit. The season has just started. I like to judge teams and players by quarters, or 40 games at a time. Although I like to tweak the roster when players aren't performing.

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  4. A healthy Musty is a perfect fit for the Yanks right now, he can hit leftys and he can play third or outfield.

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  5. Look, nobody liked the Yanks taking Hafner or Wells either and look what they have done so far. I could add Youk to that. Cashman has done a good job peirceing this team together, even if Ichiro and Francisco haven't worked out so far.

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  6. Doug not saying Cashman didn't do a good job this offseason. He looks really good right now and Ichiro is not his fault. Just saying they could be better against lefties with upgrades over Ichiro, Nix and Francisco.

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  7. Matt, your right on the money!

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  8. Refsnyder has 2 hits again tonight, I give him 2 weeks and he's in AA.

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  9. I think most everyone liked the Youkilis signing and Hafner was a comprable player to Ibanez...only downside with him is he can't play a position and can't play vs LHP. Have to give Cashman credit for the Wells move because I thought it was a horrible move based on what i saw of Wells the last 2 years and more importantly the luxury tax hit in 2014. But once it was announced the money was structured as to not count against the 2014 Luxury Tax it made some sense. I've said since that Billy Eppler's MLB scouts did a great job identifying that Wells was a changed player this Spring, HOWEVER, Cashman admitted they didn't see anything changed in him. They were looking at trading for Wells to fill the Andruw Jones role vs LHP and off the bench. He admitted his "tremendous spring didn't move them" and it just came to the point they were desperate after all the injuries and they were able to pick up more of the money (because of the Texeira rebate from MLB).

    I was hoping he'd say that Eppler and his scouts identified Wells was using the entire field again and had improved his conditioning and mechanics to create a quicker, more compact swing (all true). But he admitted they got a little lucky. That's fine....sometimes its better to be lucky than good.

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  10. fishjam, that's just hogwash, people kill Cashman for bad moves and now you slight him and give all the credit to Eppler. If Cashman makes a bad move nobody that I have seen blames their scouts. It is a combined effort, and Cashman takes all the credit and all the blame.

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  11. Another good start for Wang, he and Nuno give the Yanks some good options going forward

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  12. You misunderstood my point Doug. First off, I didn't slight Cashman at all. I said you have to give Cashman credit for the Wells move. How did I slight him. To clarify further, Cashman deserves a TON OF CREDIT anytime anyone he hires does something well....just like he deserves blame when they screw up. When you are the boss, the buck stops with you....you get credit for your underlings work and you look bad when the guys you hire make a mistake. That's true in all lines of work. Cashman isn't out scouting these players on a daily basis but he makes millions per year to make the final decision on players based on what he is presented from ALL facets....his scouts, his statistical gurus, his own opion and what ownership allows him to spend.

    The point of my post was I thought Cashman and Eppler deserved a ton of credit for the Wells pickup but I was surprised to read in the Daily News that Cash said it was pretty much luck and that they didn't see anything new in Wells. Check out the article below:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/2013/04/yankees-gm-brian-cashman-details-moves-that-led-to-surprising-start-notes-on

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  13. fishjam, I agree it's a team effort, a GM is only as good as the scouts and others that work under him. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Cashman and company have done a good job of keeping the boat a float, with 5 starters out.

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  14. For guys who understand the new CBA better than me is this true? Not even the part about scrapping the $189 million but the part about how the Yankees won't get the savings that they originally thought they would. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/yankees-appear-to-be-scrapping-plan-of-staying-below--189m-payroll-235433974.html

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  15. Yanks call up Nuno, good move.

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  16. Matt, I have read the article, and I disagree, the Yanks will be competitive whether they are over or under the cap is immaterial. I look for them to resign Cano, Kuroda, and maybe Andy and Youk. There biggest problem will be sureing up the bull pen. If there pitching stays strong the Yanks will win. I look for some of their prospects to be filtering in next year if not sooner. Nuno could be a sleeper as a starter along with Pineda.

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  17. Matthew - That's the first I've heard of the Market Disqualification Rebate being smaller than originally estimated but it does stand to reason. Under the new CBA, big market teams that weren't earning a lot (ie, WASH, ATL & TOR) had to give back their revenue sharing checks to the teams who pay out. Since then all are improved on the field and at the box office. Washington is now one of the best teams in MLB and their payroll has increased from $68M to $118M since 2011. Toronto's payroll has risen from $70M to $119M and while Atlanta's has been steady around $93M, they made some big moves getting the Upton Brothers and are seeing more success.

    If 1 or all of those 3 teams have increased their revenues enough (very possible) so that they are now in the top half of revenue producing teams than yes, the yanks would stand to have less to gain in getting under $189m.

    But I think Ownership/Management is coming to the realization that they will not be a great team getting under $189 and if they miss the playoffs this yr and in 2014 it will be a BIGGER hit financially. Their best prospects won't be impact players in 2014 and the older guys are becoming serious question marks. They have been selling less tickets every season and i think they realize they need to start adding premium talent to the team.

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  18. AA, how you like me now, Veran Wells.

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  19. As much as I'm agains't drinking and driving Mason Williams got hosed, his BAC was .06 which is under the legal limit and adds up to one or 2 beers at best. I'm sure that 90% of the male population has driven in that state.

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  20. Time to move Refsnyder, and Sanchez to AA, and move Murphy to AAA.

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  21. Also move Peter O'Brien to Tampa!

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  22. Refsnyder 2 hits, hitting .417 in Tampa!

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  23. Yanks call up Joseph, Youk goes on the DL, I would have gone with Adams. Joseph looked bad at third in spring training games, he will be overmatched in the field.

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  24. Just read that Adams was not eligible the come up until May 15 because he was released in spring training and then resigned.

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  25. I'm looking for Refsynder to be the Yanks all around utility man next year, like a DeRosa in his prime. He can play infield or outfield. He's a winner with a lot of drive.

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  26. Good job by Nuno, three shutout innings last night!

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  27. Adams has got to have some of the worst luck I've seen in a prospect. Everytime he starts playing great he gets hurt....he had a golden opportunity to play a lot in ST and got hurt.....now he's playing great again and the yanks badly need a RH bat and IF and he's not eligible to come up UNTIL the day Youkilis is due to get off the DL! Feel bad for the guy and the Yankees because they badly need a RH bat right now.

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  28. He's hitting the shit out of the ball but he also has 10 errors at 2B already. He hasn't really played much 2B since HS so I'm anxious to see how he does there in the 2nd half once he gets some reps.

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  29. Another good outing for Chien Ming Wang. and 2 hits for Adams.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)