Runners Implanted In Scoring Position
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- August
- 11
The Yankees are hitting .259 with runners in scoring position. Going back to 1996, the lowest the Yankees have hit with RISP is .255. That team won 95 games.
The loss of Jorge Posada (career .282 with RISP) and Hideki Matsui (career .300 with RISP) to injuries has been tough to overcome.
A-Rod (.239) and Jason Giambi (.204) are killing them in those situations.
It’s not like you can hit A-Rod eighth (well, not usually). But can can drop Giambi down and hit Xavier Nady higher.
Matsui is getting close to some rehab games. But he hasn’t faced big-league pitching since June 22 and has a knee that needs surgery. It’s hard to expect much out of him if he does come back.
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on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 3:41 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
1st!
Hopefully Matsui comes back by the end of the month along with Joba and we start a nice streak to inch closer to the Rays and Sox.
i’ll take my chances with matsui dh and damon in center and melky sitting.
matsui coming back along with hughes and joba can really make a difference if we can just hang tight for the next 2 weeks!
We need players like Mientkiewicz … its funny how we find hard-nosed player who have won championships, are fundamentally sound, and who want to be Yankees… yet we push them out the door in favor of the one-dimensional mercenaries who could care less about winning and only chase money.
Joba will start a throwing program on Wednesday according to the AP…
Yankees right-hander Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to start a throwing program Wednesday as part of his rehab for his injured shoulder.
Chamberlain was placed on the 15-day disabled list last Wednesday due to rotator cuff tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.
“Play catch and just go from there,” Chamberlain said Monday.
We need players like Mientkiewicz … its funny how we find hard-nosed player who have won championships, are fundamentally sound, and who want to be Yankees… yet we push them out the door in favor of the one-dimensional mercenaries who could care less about winning and only chase money.
Here we go again.
“We need players like Mientkiewicz … its funny how we find hard-nosed player who have won championships, are fundamentally sound ….”
Maybe we can get Knoblauch to come out of retirement!
From the last thread…
Kay is out of line trashing the players that didn’t go to the funeral. Not for nothing, funerals are not very pleasant, I don’t care how well they are put together. Some people can’t handle funerals. If it’s not a funeral that you absolutely have to attend, I have no problem with people skipping them.
Plus, how well did some of these guys know Murcer? Does Kay think that Betemit should have gone? What about Sexson? How about Melky? Where do you draw the line? People have to do what is right for them. Kay is in no position to pass judgement on others.
Just wake up Pete?
If the yanks keep playing like this, i have a feeling i am going to be going to sleep early this fall
A-Rod has a 400 OBP with RISP. Pitchers are pitching around him…
If Matsui comes back, where does he play? DH? But then doesn’t that mean Damon or Nady will have to sit? Is it really better to have Matsui back in the lineup if that means putting Nady or Damon on the bench?
I know folks who are into stats think RISP is a random stat.
I think hitting with RISP is a mindset.
Teams come out of the gate doing it, and confidence seems to follow them the rest of the year.
Look at the Rays. You look at their everyday lineup, and you would take the Yankees everyday lineup over their’s in a heartbeat.
However, all season long, the Rays have had the knack for guys up and down their lineup to do the things winning teams seem to do.
Advance runners, steal a base at the right time, good situational hitting, come from behind victories, etc.
The Yankees haven’t hit with RISP all season. After this much time, to expect it to happen now, because of statistical analysis or past performance, is folly.
Its in their heads that they cannot do it and when that happens you are cooked.
That’s why you see guys trying too hard and striking out. Or trying to steal bases at the wrong time. Or, expanding the zone and hitting into DP’s.
All signs of pressing because the players know they haven’t hit in those situations.
Winning teams, like Anaheim and Tampa for example, have no such worries. They approach the AB with RISP with the same discipline as they approach their non-RISP AB’s.
Its not a random stat. Its a mindset. Some teams are good at it and some aren’t.
For this season, the Yankees simply aren’t good at hitting with RISP.
Sad thing is, until you get different players, there isn’t anything anybody can do about it.
Only the players can change it. I don’t think this team, as presently constructed, can solve this problem.
If they could, they would have done it already.
Watching Mets games after the 6th inning is very fun. You just never know which relievers are going to either blow the game or turn a blowout into a close game!
Who will be responsible today? Heilman? Kunz? Schoenweiss? Sanchez? Joe Smith already let the Pirates back into the game, lets see if they can finish the job.
for weeks i’ve been saying the lineup has to be changed.
Giambi has no business in the 5 hole.
But under Girardi, it’s not about the hot hand, it’s all about peoples feelings.
“A-Rod has a 400 OBP with RISP. Pitchers are pitching around him…”
Yep. And why shouldn’t they? Giambi is typically behind him and they know that he is hit or miss. I’ve been saying this for awhile now – move Nady up behind A-Rod. At least make them have to think about it before they walk A-Rod.
“We need players like Mientkiewicz”
A more absurd and incorrect statement you’ll never find.
“A-Rod has a 400 OBP with RISP. Pitchers are pitching around him…”
Yes.
He has had bat at bats with RISP recently. They are painful to watch. But no one with a .400 OBP is killing his team.
doom and gloom, doom and gloom.
ok, i admit it looks bad but…
we started this (demoralizing) road trip 3 games behind the sox in the wc.
as bad as it’s been, we now stand 4 games behind.
i know it looks bad, but we are where we are, had we gotten here by sweeping the angels it, we’d all feel better about it but we’d still be in the exact same position, 3 games behind.
there are 6 weeks left and we’re only 4 gb in the wild card.
and we have phil, joba and maybe matsui coming back for the last month!
this is doable!
Let’s Go Yankees!
If SJ44 says they are finished I believe him. He is always right.
sorry bad edit should have said *had we gotten here by sweeping the angels we’d all feel better…
Ponson will throw a gem tonight.
I’ve been saying this for awhile now – move Nady up behind A-Rod. At least make them have to think about it before they walk A-Rod.
You’ve been saying ? And did anybody see the difference yesterday when Arredando had to pitch to Arod instead of pitch around him…Nady already effected that AB from the on deck circle.
joe! for the luva christ, switch the damn batting order today!
i know he got alot of crap for switching the lineup around earlier this season, but here’s the difference.
while he was trying a different combination of hitters every day, he still batted jeter then abreu then arod almost every day. and giambi has batted 5th almost every day he’s played.
just try it once, arod ahead of abreau or arod batting 2nd and nady 4th or cano-arod-abrue 3-4-5 or something! i really think its time.
what we got aint working, try something different just for one night and see how it goes, it cant be much worse.
“You’ve been saying ? And did anybody see the difference yesterday when Arredando had to pitch to Arod instead of pitch around him…Nady already effected that AB from the on deck circle.”
Yes, Brandon – you’ve been saying it too. Unfortunately, Girardi can’t hear us from here!
“just try it once, arod ahead of abreau or arod batting 2nd and nady 4th or cano-arod-abrue 3-4-5 or something! i really think its time.”
You lost me with the A-Rod in front of Abreu nonsense. A-Rod should be our cleanup hitter. The fact that his RISP numbers are horrid is unfortunate, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s the man with the big stick and should be batting 4th.
I thought the 96 Yankees won 92 games, not 95. Is that anal of me?
alot of ppl here who worship arod are saying that he’s not coming through bc of giambi not hitting behind him. abreu is leading the teams in rbi isnt he? so it would be a natural to flip them. it couldnt kill us to try it just one night.
Woo-woo!! The man with the ‘big stick’?
damon, nady, irod, arod, abreu, cano, sexson, giambi, jeter
SJ44,
Very good point about RISP.
It also could be a bit cyclical. There are a lot of hitters on Tampa Bay that are having career years with RISP. But they also have one in particular, BJ Upton, that is actually having a worse year than his career average with RISP. I dont think it will have any bearing on what he does next year.
A Rod is obviously having a bad year with RISP. I would hardly expect that to carry over to next year. But if there was ever an example of “mindset”, he’s it.
How about switching Jeter and Damon in the lineup? The year before the Yankees acquired Damon, Jeter was the better lead-off hitter. Perhaps hitting in the 1-hole would help jeter shift his Focus to just getting on base, instead of this new trick he has where he tries to pull outside pitches, resulting in GIDPs.
Damon would be a solid #2 hitter, since he rarely strikes out, and has a propensity to pull balls through the right side. He has not been good enough at stealing bases (6 CS to 18SB) to lock him into the #1 hole. Why is he always on first for Jeter, setting up the DP. Hit-and-run, Joe?
Man, that 1996 team was awesome and fun to watch, weren’t they? A young, hungry team…don’t think we’ll ever see that magic again in our lifetimes (well at least not a Yankee team. The Rays seem to be playing that way this year).
Anyways, if the Yanks can miraculously make the playoffs this year, perhaps Arod can turn his RISP avg around. Couldn’t hurt to assume that as in prior years, he does well with RISP in the regular season but chokes in the playoffs. This year, he sucks in regular season and maybe…just maybe, he’ll flip it. You think? Aw, who am I kidding…he’s a total waste of a big money contract.
Hate to say it people but once again I agree with my man Pete. You can sit behind your computer and study A-Rod OBP but the fact is and Michael Kay just addressed it and anyone who is watching the games will see, when the opposing team is forced to pitch to A-Rod be it because there are no empty bases, be it because Giambi was on one of his 2 hot streaks, be it because like in Texas and Boston, they seem to fear to pitch to A-Rod he struggles. The fact is that A-Rod average with runners in scoring position is hovering around .240. That is pathetic and it’s not gonna get it done. You need your big gun to be big and he lacks that quality. I would take a Pauly O’Neil or Bernie Willaims in the clutch over him any day of the week. Giambi does need to be dropped in the order but A-Rod needs to be moved also. Maybe we try in him the 5 spot with Nady hitting 4. Why not? Shake things up. This A-Rod has done nothing to have so many of you defend him and blame his woes all on Giambi. It’s non sense. When A-Rod was out of the lineup Giambi actually carried the team for a short period. When has A-Rod carried the team? Giambi needs to go after this season but A-Rod needs to step up and if he doesn’t we are going no where once again with the mighty A-Rod in our lineup.
First time on this site a story’s featured the words “Implants” and A-Rod with no mention of Cynthia.