With regards to the Yankees’ left field situation this season, while the somewhat fragile Reed Johnson seems to lead the list of right-handed candidates that could potentially platoon with the left-handed Brett Gardner come opening day (assuming the Yankees choose to go that route), one name that has recently picked up steam among Yankee fans is former Tampa Bay Ray and current free agent outfielder, Jonny Gomes.
Gomes, a career .241/.330/.471 hitter, has an affinity for cheap shots and power. For instance, he knocked 20 home runs in just 98 games with the Reds this past season (he benefited from an unsustainable home run to fly ball ratio, however, which is notable). As with any glorified right-handed platoon candidate, his numbers against right-handers have been particularly poor as he has posted a .224/.311/.448 line against them throughout his career. However, his productive stats against southpaws — a .274/.369/.517 line over 515 at-bats — have lured Yankee fans to the 29-year old from California.
So, Brett Gardner has a .288/.398/.373 minor league line against right-handers and Gomes has a .274/.369/.517 Major League line against lefties. That’s perfect—let’s tie the two together in an alliterative Gardner-Gomes platoon and call it an offseason, right? Well, no, actually, as Gomes’ defense, which would be an important piece to the Yankees’ left field platoon if the position fails to find offensive consistency, has yet to be examined.
With that said, the data on Gomes’ defense is pretty straightforward. He is simply a bad outfielder. Last season, his 1.0 UZR and 2.2 UZR/150 were average in left, however, his rating, produced after only 37 games, was essentially based on a meaningless sample. Historically, over 86 games in left field, which still isn’t much data, Gomes’ UZR/150 is actually -25.7 and he has been 13.3 runs below average at the position. In right field, over 131 games, Gomes owns a -20.2 UZR/150 and a career UZR of -17. While the statistics may suffer slightly from his sporadic playing time, it is more than reasonable to label Gomes a poor defender rather than a good or even an average defender.
Now, do Gomes’ defensive downfalls outweigh his offensive prowess against left-handers? To be honest, I’m not sure. Brett Gardner’s glove could make up for some of his defensive problems, however, in a platoon, Gomes may actually end up receiving a significant chunk of playing time, which would make things ugly from a run-saving perspective. In the end, Reed Johnson possesses a .313/.378/.463 line against left-handers and, although there is an obvious difference in power when comparing he and Gomes, Johnson’s defense is much better than Gomes’ defense. Given this level of “completeness” offered by Johnson, he still seems like the best platoon fit for the Yankees.
Photo via FanGraphs
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15 Responses to Gomes a platoon option?
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I like Gomes as a bench option in the Hinske mold. Not so sure about giving him a platoon spot, but it is the smaller half of the platoon, so that might not be a big deal.
Not so sure of it being a smaller half, the other teams pitch their leftys against us a lot. Also, Brett might be the CF’der come April. Switch Grandy to CF and put Gomes in LF?
I would rather go with Grandy in LF, Brett in CF and Swisher in RF unless it proves untenable.
I believe lefties make up 29% of pitchers. Even if they try to maximize lefties against NY, the split would be at most 60-40, right? Probably less.
I’ll take your word for the numbers but, it always looks like there are 70% leftys when we play a team.
Thanks for the numbers.
why get anyone? we went and traded bruney, if we don’t play hoffman, we gave bruney away for free??? do we carry 5 outfielders, plus pena..one utility infielder. i was thinking pena and maybe russo, he also plays left field;but is an infielder first. input please
They have 9 starters (including Gardner), a backup catcher and utility infielder make 11. That leaves 3 slots for a 4th OF, a bench bat, and a wildcard type/pinchrunner. Hoffman, Gomes, and I’m not sure.
Don’t forget that Gardner has options.
As for Gomes, pass. His bat against lefties is obviously real good, but his defense is really bad and he won’t get enough PAs to outweigh that negative defensive contribution.
Brett has options but, I can’t see him in AAA this year. After all he is the best CF we have plus he can do much better then he did last year, with a full year of rehab on his hand.
Sure, he can, but will he? It’s not very likely that he’ll get much better than he is and there’s no need to lose Hofmann unless he does terribly in ST or the first month of the season. Gardner’s options allow the Yankees to be a little more flexible with the bench. The same goes for Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo.
I think he will get better (check his history). Hofmann is an option for the 4th OF, isn’t he? The Yanks must have seen something they liked in him. With 3 players having options, (you are right) it gives them flexibility, something they were lacking for many years. Good points.
Moshe, good evening, you think they go with 11 pitchers, not 12? do you think hoffman and gardner would be that pinch runner when platooning? I would not go after gomes brutal outfielder just for a .274 one sided hitter.for that matter i would take jerry h. back first. reed is a hard nose kid. and goes after balls hard, up walls and lays out.
It depends. If you have 5 starters plus the other of Joba/Hughes, Rivera, Marte, Robertson, and Aceves, that is 10 relievers. If they carry Gaudin as the 11th, that should be sufficient, as most of the guys can give you multiple innings. If they send the Joba/Hughes loser down, maybe you want more options, and you carry Melancon and Romulo Sanchez or Albie.
Here is a Quote from Kaat’s Korner, by Kaat….
My thinking, and I realize I’m biased because as a former pitcher I know how important it is to have outfielders who can chase down fly balls and line drives and turn potential doubles into singles and gappers into outs, just sign some decent outfielders who can hit a little bit but can save you runs with their legs and gloves. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Now that is something I and the Yankees can very well live with. This is one of the reasons I keep saying we have a good OF with what we have.
We already have a Gomes clone on the roster – Jamie Hoffmann. I believe I’ve seen it quoted that his splits against lefties are also off the charts.
He doesnt have the track record, he had one good year against lefties. Gomes has done it for a long time.