Brett Gardner had an up and down season. He started it off as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, but lost the job after a tough first month of the year (.286 wOBA/73 wRC+). The next three months were much better, as Gardner produced splits of .337/108; .386/141; and .358/122. He crashed again in August with a .281/68 mark, but ended the year well, hitting .332/104 in September.
This isn’t so strange, really. We’ve seen this streakiness from Gardner for the last few years. During the cold streaks, it’s certainly maddening. During the hot streaks, he’s great to watch. He gets on base, takes the extra base (both after hits and on the basepaths), and looks like the leadoff hitter we know he could be.
The more interesting turn for Gardner the last few years has been in his platoon split. We’ll discount 2008 since it was a relatively small sample. Even in 2009, he just got 65 PA against left handed pitchers. In 2010, he racked up 171 PAs against them, and 124 in 2011. In 2010 (and the limited time in 2009), Gardner showed that he could at least handle himself against lefties. In that limited sample of 2009, Gardner wOBA/wRC+’d .350/107 against lefties. It dropped a bit to .332/102 in 2011, but that’s still better than acceptable; it’s average. This past year, though, that mark dropped to a replacement-level like .290/75.
Ironically enough, Gardner actually had a better walk rate against lefties (12.5) than he did against righties (9.5) and struck out less against lefties (12.1%) than against righties (16.8%). On the flip side, he hit for much less power against southpaws (.039 Iso) than right handers (.128 Iso). Granted, neither number is great, but I think we’re not going to get much else out of Gardner power-wise (and that’s okay).
Perhaps BABIP is to blame for Gardner’s decline against lefties. He’s gone from a .356 mark in 2009 to a .314 mark in 2010, to a .270 mark in 2011. This year, he didn’t exactly smack the ball against lefties, as evidenced by the above Iso mark and a low 11.9% line drive mark and a high 20.7% infield fly ball mark.
The walk rate and the resulting .344 OBP against left handed pitching tells me that Gardner isn’t helpless against that set of pitchers. The lack of power (.272 SLG) is what seems to hurt Gardner against lefty pitchers. I wonder if next year we’ll see Gardner get platooned like he did this year. My gut says yes, but of course, that depends on whether or not the Yankees can find a suitable platoon partner for him. If not, I’d be comfortable giving him some reps against lefties again. He may have been pretty crappy against them in 2011, but again, that .344 OBP and high walk rate give me hope that he can bounce back against them.
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11 Responses to Story of a Season: Brett Gardner
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TIQ IQ
He should at least be batting leadoff against righties.
I kind of like Gardner batting 9th. It gives you good speed at both ends of the lineup which is good. What I didn’t understand was when Girardi batted Gardner 8th with Russell Martin batting 9th. Here is how the lineup should be configured; 1.Jeter, 2.Swisher, 3.Cano, 4. Granderson, 5.A-Rod, 6.Tex, 7.(DH)Montero, 9. Martin 9.Gardner. Send Girardi to the Cubs.
Granderson had the year he had because he was batting in front of Teixeira, and Cano and pitchers had to throw him fastballs and challenge him. For that reason I don’t think Grandy should hit lower than 3rd, with Cano behind him 4th. My batting order would be…
Gardner, Jeter, Granderson, Cano, Rodriguez, Teixeira, Swisher, Montero, Martin against RHP.
Jeter, Granderson, Cano, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Swisher, Montero, Martin, Gardner against LHP.
I also hope we don’t send Girardi to the Cubs. He is a master with the pen, and he does a better job with the pen, bench, and managing personalities than Torre ever did. Which honestly, the last part is the most important thing in New York.
You know what damnit. Your not good for debates if I keep agreeing with a majority of what you say! Totally stole my thunder…
I’ll tell you what then, the next position you take I’ll hop on board the opposite opinion. Haha. That way no matter what I believe we can go a couple rounds before agreeing.
When will Torre take the Helm????
Please, let’s never have Torre handle the Yankee bullpen again. Never, never, never.
Hopefully never!!!
Don’t forget that what may play into the lack of power against lefties is that he bunted more for base hits this year. Leadoff hitters aren’t expected to be power hitters; but I think he should leadoff (rather than El Capitan, who should bat 2nd) and use his speed more (ala more bunt attempts for base hits) Then when the infield plays in to slap it to left field (which he is improving at.
1. Gardner
2. Jeter
3. Cano
4. Granderson
5. Arod
6. Tex
7. Montero (DH)
8. Swisher
9. Martin
I still feel that Granderson will have a better year next season hitting in front of Cano, than he will behind Cano and in front of Arod and Teixeira.
With Cano hitting 3rd, with Granderson as his protection, you will see an uptick in intentional walks for Cano. Now maybe this would in and of itself dictate pitchers having to go after Granderson with fastballs, but I don’t know for sure.
I know many believe in the best hitter on a team hitting 3rd, so it makes sense so many want Cano hitting 3rd. But I am in what I would think is the minority of wanting my best hitter in the 4 hole. There are reasons to not like it, but I suppose there are pluses and minuses to each strategy.