I Like It!
Joe Girardi said recently in an interview that he is thinking about switching Damon and Jeter in the batting order and having Jeter lead off. This is quite interesting, as many people consider Johnny Damon to be a more true lead-off guy, but I am going to support this 100%.
1st off, during Spring Training, there were days where Jorge Posada batted lead off because he was catching, was going to come out of the game early, and Girardi wanted to get him some extra at bats, and in these days, Damon batted second and showed a different side of him. He bunted a little, moved runners along (usually Posada), and really seemed to fit the role well.
Also, Damon has more power which is good for a #2, and finally, the piece-de-resistance (im not sure if that's actually how you spell that, I just wanted to say it), this will give one extra at bat per game where Jeter cannot ground into a double play! Even the biggest Jeter supporter (I am looking at you Mike from Manhattan) has to admit that the man is a ground ball machine. My father even pointed this out, 2 years ago! With Jeter batting 1st, and Gardner 9th, that also puts a super-fast player on the basepaths for Jeter, which will also cut down on the double plays. And even though Damon is faster, Jeter is a smarter base runner as well.
Also, Jeters career OB% is about 30 points higher, and if Jeter gets on and the 1B is holding him on, Damon can more easily pull the ball through the right side hole.
Now, this may all be about nothing. Jeter did bat lead off in today's Spring Training game, but that means very little. Odds are Damon will be the lead off guy, but due to Damon having more power, and Jeter being a better base runner and a ground ball machine, I'm hoping Jeter is the 1st Yankee to have an at-bat in the new Yankee stadium.
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I like this as well. Jeter does hit a lot of ground balls, so it makes more sense to let him hit his ground ball outs with nobody on, rather than with Johnny D on first. I like the idea of letting a true lead off hitter hit second...its almost like having two lead off guys....once again, great insight Mikey.
ReplyDeleteNice job Mikey, paragraph 3 is perfect. keep em coming
ReplyDeleteMikey Joy I agree. Well said. I like Jeter as leadoff and not so he hits into less DP's. He is one of the smartest ball players around and I like shaking things up a bit. If Gardner hits a bit while the order isn't the same remember how many times we used to see first and third with Knoublach and Jeter. It could be a nice step. Let Texeira knock them in.
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