^[2]For obvious reasons, there’s been a lot of attention paid to the Yankees third base situation, but they also have a massive hole in right field and Buster Olney reports that left-handed hitter Nate Schierholtz is “making good progress” ^[3] toward a deal and that the Yankees are the frontrunners. ^[4] The good and bad of Schierholtz is obvious. His numbers against left-handers are stunningly bad, but this is what Schierholtz has done against right-handers the past two years

2011: .288/.340/.461 for an .801 OPS
2012: .287/.360/.466 for an .826 OPS

Schierholtz would be replacing Nick Swisher, whose numbers against right-handers were up in 2010, dipped in 2011 and went back up in 2012. For his career, Swisher is a .250/.342/.478 with an .820 OPS against right-handers. That’s more or less in line with Schierholtz’s most recent production, but it’s significantly better than Schierholtz’s career numbers (.266/.319/.413 in his career against righties).

If the past two years are a true indication of what to expect, Schierholtz could give the Yankees production similar to what they’ve come to expect, at least for one half of a platoon. The Yankees would clearly need to pair him with a right-handed hitter, but he’s still just 28 years old and should have some prime years ahead of him.