Buster Oney had some thoughts to offer on last night’s ST game against the Reds, and one nugget in particular caught my eye:
Brett Gardner, competing for the club’s center field job, continues to have a great spring, with his average over .400. Gardner has a swing that actually reminds you a lot of Johnny Damon’s swing, with his back leg stepping almost on home plate as he completes his follow-through. If Gardner keeps getting on base, I wonder if the Yankees might be well-served to hit Gardner, Derek Jeter and Damon in the top three spots in their lineup to open the year, in front of Mark Teixeira, as they play the first month without A-Rod.
This is an interesting thought, one actually raised by a commenter in the last few days. It would have to depend on what Buster means by Gardner getting on base. If he reaches at a .350+ OBP clip, then I think it is something that the team would be forced to consider. You put Gardner in front of Jeter to stay out of double plays, while putting the more powerful Damon after two high OBP guys. The remainder of the lineup could then remain unchanged. However, if Gardner is more in the .300-.330 range, that is probably too low for a lead off hitter, and the club would be better served having Brett bat ninth.
Agree? Disagree?
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16 Responses to Olney: Gardner Leading Off?
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I wondered about this a few months ago and asked, if this is the case, why is Johnny Damon necessary for the team? I mean, that’s really his primary role and he likely won’t duplicate what he did last year, this year. If Gardner can bat leadoff, then an OF that features Nady and Swisher at the is probably a better OF, overall, as it would incorporate good offense and solid defense.
Damon, when healthy, is as good offensively as Nady and possibly Swisher. He is better defensively than both. And when A-Rod returns, Gardner would go back to 9th, anyhow.
I don’t think Damon will be as good as Swisher or Nady, offensively, but his defense will be better as long as he’s in LF. Damon is a necessity without A-Rod, that is true.
I know (with last season as his exception), Damon is one of the best in baseball at avoiding grounding into double plays, while Jeter has always been one of the worst at it.
I don’t know how Gardner is though with DP.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least consider and think about.
As I have said many times, even if Gardner bats 9, Jeter and Damon should be flipped- it makes sense on so many levels. Jeter reaches base more, Damon has more power, makes more contact, and hits far fewer grounders and DP balls.
This solution makes the most sense. Batting Gardner 9th with Jeter and Damon to follow does alleviate some of the DP issues with Jeter as Gardner is definitely faster and his ability to steal 2nd base gives Jeter the optionality of the hit & run, bunt, or simply hitting the ball to the right side of the infield (which I hear he’s pretty good at). I don’t really agree with Gardner leading off at this point simply because it grants him more ABs per game than Jeter or Damon.
Damon might actually make a decent stop gap #3 hitter. He gets on base enough, has some power (especially at Yankee Stadium) and his bat control (similiar to Jeter) might allow the team to “create” some runs early in the season.
That being said-I agree with Moshe. The ideal lineup right now (imo) is Gardner, Damon, Jeter (9,1,2).
I agree, just not yet. Let him get his feet wet in the bigs before we give him any serious responsibility.
There’s a theory among the Yankee brass that what screwed up Cano last year was moving him up in the batting order early in the year, that he started trying too hard to do too much.
Yeah- we discussed this last week at RAB when they posted my Cano thing. They probably should give him time to get acclimated.
Start him at 9 – if he’s at .350+ OBP in the first month, move him to leadoff.
I’ve been saying for months that Gardner is a lead off hitter and Damon would put similar numbers batting 3rd as Abreu did, maybe better.
If there was no such thing as agents and free agency, that’s exactly how they’d be batting also.
I dont know about that- Gardner is not a leadoff hitter if he doesnt reach base enough. And Damon has been a prototypical leadoff guy for a while, and if you go by the stealing bases measure, he is the Yankees best bet. I just think other considerations force him behind Jeter.
We agree to disagree.To me, Gardner is a prototypical run scorer and nobody knows what his on base percentage will be as a major leaguer with experience, until he gets it.
Yankees would be a a stronger team with GArdner batting first and Damon 3rd, especially with AROD out.
YAnkes have had trouble scoring runs in cluch situations for years now with Damon leading off.
He’d put up the same numbers if not better numbers than Abreu did batting 3rd.
Abreu’s numbers are better than Damon’s- Damon is not your ideal 3 hitter.
I like Brett as a #9 hitter (in the regular season), no pressure and has a better chance of learning the pitchers and adjusting to them. But, if his numbers end up being good (.350+ OBP), next year we let Johnny, Matsui, X-Man along with Andy, walk! If A-Jax is ready next year, bring him up for LF…from what I have seen of him, I don’t know about 2010, maybe 2011 would be better.
Next year there are going to be a few very good corner OF available, pick one up to replace X-Man if needed. No more long term contracts, hopefully!
His MLEs point to a high OBP with speed and I think he will be a very good leadoff hitter.
I’d go:
1. Gardner
2. Dammon
3. Jeter
4. Tex
That lengthens the lineup, and puts someone like Cano or Nady/Swisher in the 8 spot. Really the only hole at that point is Ransom, who isn’t horrible for a #9 hitter.
I flip Damon and Jeter, but only do this after some good performances by Gardner.