I saw an interesting mention of Johnny Damon in a Fangraphs article yesterday, and was hoping to get some opinions on what the data may mean:
Two other interesting players are Johnny Damon and Garret Anderson. They have identical .161 ISOs over the last three years, but Anderson has seen the fewest fastballs of any hitter in the sample (48.9%) while Damon is up near the top (67.5%). Do pitchers perceived Damon as a slap hitter, due to his frame? Or perhaps Anderson just really struggles against breaking balls, and pitchers are exploiting this? Maybe both?
Damon always seemed like a bit of a slap hitter to me, which may be why his performance in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS was so shocking. When he came to the Yankees in 2006 and hit 24 homers, I’m fairly certain that he outstripped any expectations for him in that category. Damon’s swing looks like it should not generate much power, but he has a way of really getting into the balls that he pulls and actually hits some fairly long home runs. However, he certainly does not have a reputation for being a power hitter.
Do you think that the article’s explanation for the data is correct? Do major league pitchers throw that many fastballs to Damon because they are unaware of his stealthy power?
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15 Responses to Johnny Damon: Stealth Power?
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Damon’s power is a good reason to bat Jeter leadoff, who has less and less power each year. Both get on base a lot, and it would mean Alex bats 3rd and Tex can protect him.
I would keep Alex fourth, but I spent most of last season hoping they would flip Damon and Jeter. Jeter hits too many ground balls that eliminate baserunners faster than him. I think he will have a bounce back year, but he still fits better at 2 than 1.
DPs are so flukey. The leaders are typically some of the best players in the game and change greatly from year to year.
I think Derek was nursing the hand injury last season and just not hitting the ball cleanly. I don’t expect him to repeat the DPs this season.
I know, but Jeter is bound to hit into more DP’s because he hits a lot more GB’s. His career GB/FB ration is 2.3, Damon’s is 1.3. That is a significant difference.
Johnny is about 6’2″ tall and tips the scales at 185/190…not large but, with enough power to hit the short porch in RF.
Agree, he is more of a slap hitter then anything else but, that tag is very misleading. This year, watch him very close; he sets up to hit the ball hard (lets it get deep into the zone) but, at the last minute will swipe at the ball…to foul it off, sometimes it drops into LF for a hit (instead of foul).
Basically, he is not a slap hitter at all…he isn’t a power hitter by any means either. Just a pesky hitter that has learned a style of hitting that suits him well.
Agreed. But I think the perception of him may be as a slap hitter, which serves him well in that it gives him a steady diet of FB’s.
Bingo! You got it!
I just looked at your blog, man. It’s pretty cool that you played in NFL preseason games. Who did you suit up for?
I see him as no different than Abreu in terms of EFFECTIvE power. Abreu didn’t drive the ball anymore than Johnny does and Johnny is often just trying to get on base.
That’s why I think (though it’ll never happen) that Gardner would be the best leadoff hitter, a lefty hitter who indeed does slap and can steal 40-50 bases and more if he hits.
Damon batting 3rd in a walk year probably hits 25 dingers and bats close to .300 with Gardner and Jeter constantly on 2nd nad 3rd base when he’s up.
Then you have lefty, righty, lefty and Tex a switch and Arod batting 5th but so what? He’ll get as many at bats that anyway with 4 guys like that in front of him.
It should be about the best batting order and winning, not about egos and contracts.
I have a lot of confidence in Gardner being a nasty player who bunts, walks and steals, and finds ways to win games.I believe he can reach the porch in RF too, I saw him bang one of the CF wall over 400 feet away at the end of the season and saw him hitting some dingers in Batting Practice too.
Assuming Gardner wins the job, he will start off at 9th, in that “second leadoff position.” If he hits like you believe that he can, I would say that there is a decent chance that they would move him to the top of the lineup.
Brett can hit with a bit of power, he has been working with Long. Long has been trying to get him to use the lower legs/body to add some pop. He has said that he hits with power in BP but not in games.
Agree with you, his game is to get on and do damage, not hit HRs. I think he will start hitting the gaps with more pop then before, as illustrated by his 2nd time around (Sept, call up). If he can improve his OBP etc., as I hope he can; BA .281/OBP .393/OPS .795 it would be great. These are figures of 5% lower then his AAA/AA numbers.
It would be nice (great) if he could hit enough to be our lead-off hitter for the next few years, along with his great defence in CF…great asset for the team.
If he ever put up those numbers, he probably would be one of the top 5 or 6 CF’s in baseball. An OBP that high, with his speed and good defense- huge asset. It would also allow you to trade Austin Jackson, maybe for an infield prospect or a lefty starter.
I actually remember reading articles the off-season the Yankees signed Damon that predicted he would have his best seasons as far as power goes because of Yankee Stadium. Apparently the porch in right field is a big advantage to him because he lost a lot of homers in Fenway that ended up being homers in Yankee Stadium.
It’s about the dimensions of the field and his ability to poke homers just over the wall. I think, if I am recalling correctly, his grandslam during 2004 ALCS was down the line and just over the wall in right. That’s his MO.
That’s true, but he has only had one season, 2005, outside of his career norms, so I dont know how much the park effected it. (If you ask Lombardi at WW, he would say that the fluctuation means steroids).
Without looking, I’d bet Damon’s HR totals aren’t far behind Abreu’s last few years and that was batting lead off, not 3rd.If Abreu was resigned he would probably bat 3rd which is where I’d like to see Damon instead, so the kid Gardner could get a real shot.
If Damon hits around .300 with 20 + HR’s and already is a clutch hitter who can still run a bit, having Tex and Arod behind him, he”ll score runs like a lead off batter anyway and get 100 RBI’s.
Of course if Gardner can’t hit in Spring training it’s academic.I think he will.