As we heard from Joe Girardi this week, Alex Rodriguez is going to get into Minor League games this week and we can presume he’ll join the team next week. Now that he’s going to return, let’s take a look at what the lineup could be going forward.
With A-Rod back, I can assume we’ll see the end of Brett Gardner in the leadoff spot. Sigh. We’ll probably see Derek Jeter elevated back to the leadoff spot, Curtis Granderson moved back to number two, Mark Teixeira back to number three, etc, etc. Against righties, I’m sure we’ll see Eric Chavez and Rodriguez split time at third and DH against right handed pitchers with Andruw Jones getting the DH plate appearances against lefty pitchers:
vs. RHP:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Granderson, CF
3. Teixeira, 1B
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Cano, 2B
6. Swisher, RF
7. Chavez, DH
8. Martin, C
9. Gardner, LF
(You could switch Martin/Gardner if you’d like)
vs. LHP:
1. Jeter, SS
2. Granderson, CF
3. Teixeira, 1B
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Cano, 2B
6. Swisher, RF
7. Jones, DH
8. Martin, C
9. Gardner, LF
Now let’s use each player’s rest of season projections from ZiPS to see what these lineups could do for the rest of the year.
The above lineup would score 5.424 runs per game. That’s 878 over a 162 game season.
If we replace Chavez with Jones, we’d see that lineup score 5.469 runs per game, or 885 over the course of a season.
Remember that these are projections from ZiPS that may not come true. We should also note that they’re not adjusted for platoon split; it’s likely that Chavez will hit better versus righties than his projections suggest and the same goes for Andruw Jones versus lefties.
Regardless of the adjustment of the splits, Rodriguez’s return will no doubt help the team. Any time you can re-add a bat like that to the lineup, you’re going to see benefits.
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11 Responses to The lineup when A-Rod returns
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TIQ IQ
How would it look with Cano third and Tex fifth? Not looking at numbers, just my gut feel says that Cano would be a much better third hitter. You have chaos in the infield with Gardner on base, lots of baserunners, and it would seem as if Cano’s ability to make contact would be of great benefit. ARod would still have ample protection with Tex and Grandy behind him.
tex should bat fifth and cano third.. you are correct
I said that wrong. Not chaos on the bases, but in the opposing infield with Gardner on base.
I agree, I’d like to see Cano bat 3rd. I have long liked the idea of having the best hitter bat 3rd. Nor do I mind two lefties (Grandy & Cano) bat together, since they both can handle left handed pitchers.
Talent wise Cano is the best hitter on the team, but on the year that mantle belongs to Granderson.
Don’t forget Posada to the DL when A-Rod returns!!!
Captain Can’t Hit Anymore and Gardner should switch places.
A guy with higher BA, OBP, and SLG and more SB, SBA, XBT, doubles, triples, homeruns, and runs scored than the leadoff hitter is batting ninth, I love (hate) it.
Why are the Yanks so afraid of CCHA? Is he doing or saying something about being dropped to ninth?
I am by no means a fan of Derek Jeter’s but it’s no longer correct to reflexively slam him for his 2011 stat line or the weak way he started the season.
Since coming off the DL on July 4th, Jeter has put up a .312/.374/.440 batting line in 31 games (140 PA). He has 10 multi-hit games in that 31 game span since returing from the DL whereas he had only 18 multi-hit games in the first 62 games of the season.
Again, I’m not a Jeter fan — I lack any sentimentality or fondness for him whatsoever — but I give credit where it is due. He’s been a different player over the past six weeks.
You’ll just have to accept that Jeter doesn’t belong in the 9th spot in the batting order right now. An argument certainly could’ve been made that he belonged there at the beginning of the year but those days appear to be in the rear-view mirror.
I would flip Jeter and Gardner 1/2 against lefties and righties. You are right that he has picked it up to a major degree since he came back, but he still has an extreme split. Against lefties he is still Jeter. Against righties he is still CCHA, but his grounders aren’t that damaging with Gardner on base.
Gardner
Jeter
Granderson
Rodriguez
Cano
Teixeira
Swisher
Chavez
Martin
That’s the lineup I would like to see when Alex comes back. I don’t think it will happen, but it would help negate Teixeira’s weaknesess, and it would allow Gardner to stay at the top of the lineup against righties.
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