Coming up in a pinch
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jan 17, 2010 
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The Yankees pinch hit 97 times last season, and our own pinch hitter Jesse made a good call in naming Jorge Posada his pinch hitter of choice. Posada had 14 of those pinch hit appearances and went 4-for-11 with two walks, two home runs and a sac fly. He had a .909 slugging percentage in those situations.
A lot of that success is because Posada’s a good, veteran hitter, but I think there’s something to be said for the fact Posada came off the bench early in his career. As a catcher, he gets more days off than most lineup regulars, and he played behind Joe Girardi when he was young. Posada’s been thrown into pinch hit situations much more often than the other Yankees (including long-time National Leaguer Nick Johnson).
By the way, the Yankees pinch hitters as a whole last season: 18-for-76 (.237) with three home runs, 16 walks and 23 strikeouts. Hideki Matsui had eight of the hits, including a home. Brett Gardner was 2-for-6, the only other Yankee with more than one pinch hit last season. The only other Yankees with at least one base hit as a pinch hitter were Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Eric Hinske and Juan Miranda.
Career major league pinch hit numbers
Jorge Posada: 27-for-114 (.237) with four HR, 20 BB and 40 Ks
Robinson Cano: 6-for-14 (.500) with two HR, 0 BB and 2 Ks
Curtis Granderson: 5-for-18 (.278) with 0 HR, 1 BB, 5 Ks
Nick Johnson: 5-for-23 (.217) with 0 HR, 5 BB, 3 Ks
Nick Swisher: 2-for-15 (.133) with 0 HR, 2 BB, 4 Ks
Brett Gardner: 2-for-7 (.286) with 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 K
Jamie Hoffmann: 1-for-9 (.111) with 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 Ks
Juan Miranda: 1-for-1 (1.000) with 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 Ks
Francisco Cervelli: 0-for-1
Ramiro Pena: 0-for-3
Derek Jeter: 0-for-4
Mark Teixeira: 0-for-4
Alex Rodriguez: 0-for-9
The sample sizes are really too small to be meaningful.
I changed my mind. I want Matt Stairs.
Jeter’s only had 4 career PH at-bats?
nice guest post.
man, this blog is slow today. i’m going to have to go buy grand slam tennis for the wii.
Yeah, very slow traffic. If your watching the NFL they got an open thread at riveraveblues.
Lets go Vikings!
I want to see Vikings vs Saints next week ( I hope).
muffin stump
January 17th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
nice guest post.
man, this blog is slow today. i’m going to have to go buy grand slam tennis for the wii.
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it’s probably a combination of football playoffs and absolutely no Yankee news coming in.
I’ve been putting off cleaning my closet, but I guess now is a good a time as any. lol
Football?
:confused:
m
Gamers don’t get many off days.
lol. That’s what happens when you pick up a kicker that was released in the middle of a season.
Argh. What’s happening with Johnny? When’s Nady going to throw? Who’s Reed Johnson?
What a throw! What a catch!
What a guy. Brett the..!!
erin,
good luck with the closet. just don’t get stuck there.
and yeah to m’s question, does anyone know about reed johnson?
“I disagree regarding the Yankees outfield being “uniquely positioned to absorb whatever occurs”. On the contrary, the outfield is at bare minimum. No depth, no margin for error.”
Good thing I didn’t say the “Yankee outfield”. I said the Yankees.
Do you have any sense at all how much superior the Yankees infield in (including catcher) to other teams?
The YANKEES line-up, the one that scored 30+ runs more than the next best team and may have actually improved his in unique position to absorb some uncertainty in the 9 hole.
You can compartmentalize things down to “LF” and “the outfield” all you like, but MLB rules don’t make such distinctions. They let you score runs however they hell you like.
Yankees won’t have ANY problems scoring runs even if they concede the 9 hole each and every AB.
How can any astute fan worry about the Yankees scoring runs this year?
My answer is, the astute ones don’t.
On LF, Boston Olney mentions Matthews Jr. Might be on the block.
If the Angels paid 18 of the $23 million left on his contract, and dumped him to us, that would be okay. He plays exceptional defense IMO, he is injury prone, has had a good year or two, and is a switch hitter.
But why would the Angels want to pay 18 million for Matthews to play for another team, let alone the Yankees.
Yanks don’t have a bench that offers a pinch hitter….
Pat M,
I think Nady would/could pinch hit. And like Chad’s article on Gardner said, a RH bench option would complement 2 LH & 1 S in the outfield.
Of course, Nady would like to play everyday. But he may have to prove himself healthy before teams view him as an everyday option.
OT: Defensive End for the Chcago Bears died this morning of an enlarged heart in Greenville, SC. He was 26 years old
m, I do believe that Cashman will sign a right handed bat who plays the outfield….Marcus Thames or Nady at this point is all that is available…..Pretty thin bench for a Championship team…….I’ll be heading off to The Murp ( Qualcom Stadium ) to watch the Jets upset the Chargers…..It’s about a 30 minute Trolley ride from my Hotel….I hope the storms that will saturate So. Cal this week will not arrive until after the game……It’s going to be a bad week in LA LA Land…..
Correction:
OT: Defensive End, **Gaines Adams*** for the Chcago Bears died this morning of an enlarged heart in Greenville, SC. He was 26 years old
Oh no, I can’t believe it; what a tragedy – to die at 26? As a Bears fan, this is very hard to take.
Was perusing the Extra Bats blog and came across this:
In that regard, James is interested to see how the coming season plays out.
“What I’m most curious about in 2010 is how much better we’re going to be defensively,” he said. “I don’t think anyone questions that we’re going to have a better defensive team. But are we going to be as much better defensively as we want to believe we are and is that going to have as much impact on (the pitching staff) as we hope it does?”
Sad about Gaines Adams. Reading the ESPN boards, some sicko wrote something along the lines of “It was bad enough we gave up 1st rd picks?? for him, now he is completely worthless”
“James” refers to Bill James. Not sure if that was clear.
And “we” refers to the Red Sox. Not sure if that was clear either.
Pat M,
Think they said rain might hold off until 9.
There are some people on the Bears board asking if he’s now a bust and worrying more about how this affects the Bears. I know it’s just a few people, but man, they make me sick.
Jetropolitans getting 9 now, Pat M. Good luck at Qualcom… it’s a sad trolley ride back to the Gaslamp district if things don’t go well there… bad Holiday Bowl memories…
Nick in SF….I’m in at 8 and $ 360.00 …..42.5 is the over, I’m still debating on the merits of playing that….Love San Diego
How can any astute fan worry about the Yankees scoring runs this year?
My answer is, the astute ones don’t.Yankees won’t have ANY problems scoring runs even if they concede the 9 hole each and every AB.
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Oh how astute. Let’s play w/o a Lfer. We don’t any production there.
Man, betsy has been quiet…chirp, chirp…you can hear the crickets
Pat,
Enjoy the game. Cheer for me too.
J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.
No strong feelings on the points… I was 1-for-2 on the overs yesterday… 2-for-2 on games… early game looking good… my gut tells me that the Bolts will advance, but I like the +9, so go Jets. But I have hedged the other way.
Oh how astute. Let’s play w/o a Lfer. We don’t any production there.
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meant to say “need” or “have” production, i forget…..
nick, do you gamble for a living?
mick: For entertainment purposes only.
Nick in SF….I parlayed Vikes to the Jets…Also have the Jets plus 9 and a Grant on the moneyline….I got wacked yesterday by the Cal-Berkley Bears….
Robbie Cano: How does 6-14 = .500??
I took a little hit on Cal as well, but just a little one… they are not the same team without Jorge Gutierez… just watch when he comes back… still it was a very poor effort.
Now at The Murph, section 15 right where 3rd base use to be…..Sun is bright, but monster storms are on the way….At least I’ll be taking Amtrack back….
Can Favre play LF? The dude is a player like him or not.
LET’S GO JETS
mgp
January 17th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Robbie Cano: How does 6-14 = .500??
————————————————————
He’s 6-12.
How many of Posada’s PH plate appearances were in games where Burnett started and Molina caught? The dis might have been added motivation for Jorge.
Jerry Jones is jumping up & down – - – boiling mad.
Off topic but interesting nonetheless – the following was clipped from today’s Boston.com and pasted here”
“1. Reader Gene Fein points out that none of the top seven teams in “UZR’’ defensive ratings made the playoffs last year”
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....?page=full
“Oh how astute. Let’s play w/o a Lfer. We don’t any production there.”
Good gracious.
Do you honestly no comprehend that the difference between the Yankees 9th place hitter having a terrible offensive year and having a good/above average offensive year will likely have zero effect on the Yankees qualifying for the post-season.
Really?
scott
January 17th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
How many of Posada’s PH plate appearances were in games where Burnett started and Molina caught? The dis might have been added motivation for Jorge.
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Or, maybe not. He had pinch hitting appearances for 5 different starters and only one hit when Burnett pitched.
You can worry about the Yankees scoring runs in key situations. Tie game in the last three innings. There is no protection for A-Rod, so you pitch around him. You’ve got Posada next, after that nothing. Cano doesn’t hit with men on (you could look it up). Any lefty will get Granderson out. Any pitcher who can get a breaking ball over can get Swisher out. Anyone can get Gardner out. Game over. Just counting up total runs for the year doesn’t tell you anything about getting them in a close game when you need them. At that point you need guys who are difficult to pitch to. The Yankees have too many easy ones and that hurts the others because you’ll pitch around them to get to the easy ones. I see the Yankees having a much more difficult time winning the close ones during the regular season and a real problem in the post season when you’ll really miss “gamers” like Damon, Matsui and Abreu.
I bet Vic Davalillo could still get a hit! He is only 73 years old!