Entering today’s game, the Yanks were 9th in the league in drawing walks. Last year, they were third. Jason Giambi leads the team with 66. Last year, A-Rod led the team with 95. Last year, FIVE players had 66 or more. Of those five, two were Posada and Matsui. Posada will wind up missing 2/3 of the 2008 season. Matsui, 1/3.
That is not to excuse the rest of the team.
Molina 11 walks in 243 AB.
Cano 24 walks in 523 AB (the main reason I don’t want him at the top of the order).
Jeter 45 walks in 540 AB (not enough for someone hitting #2 in front of Alex, IMHO).
Damon has 58, not bad, but you would like he and Jeter to have more, say 70 each for the season.
Melky 29 in 401 AB. (From 6/27 to 8/13, just two walks in 127 AB.)
Betemit 6 in 160 AB.
Even Nady, who has done marvelous since the trade, 9 in 145 AB.
Pudge Rodriguez, 3 in 72 Yankee AB. But then, Pudge had 9 ALL OF LAST YEAR (502 AB) and 11 in 504 AB in 2005.
There are more. You get the point. The Yanks are 3rd in OBP somehow, due to 5th in BA but 9th in walks. Strange. 472 walks. Boston, who leads the league, has 560. Of course, they are also first in BA and OBP.
Combined, Matsui and Posada have 477 AB this year. Combined, 62 walks. Good, despite the lack of power from the injured stars (12 HR, 66 RBI). Note the 62 combined walks, more than anyone on the team other than Giambi.
We’ve seen the anxiousness in more than just the walk total being down. We’ve seen it in the Yanks’ performance with RISP this year.
Patience instead of pressing. Pitch selection. Both things that have helped to doom the 2008 Yanks.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Jason // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:55 pm
The walk totals make it difficult for me to keep my lunch down, Mike.
Poor plate approaches have killed the Yanks this year, with the onus really on the offense more than the injuries to me, as we’ve discussed. So often, this team shot itself in the collective foot with impatience and ineffectiveness. They had runners on base so much of the time but have been utterly miserable in advancing and scoring runners–the worst Yankees team in advancing and scoring base runners in recent memory. Sac flies, sac bunts, turning the hands over to hit choppers to the right side, hitting to the opposite field–all Greek to too many Yankee hitters. Long might take the fall for this season, but that would do little to explain–or remedy–how so many of the same PLAYERS did so much better last year, especially in clutch situations.
2 Mike Sommer // Sep 6, 2008 at 2:32 pm
and as we both know, the problem with sac bunts is that some guys (who should bunt) can’t or don’t want to. Inexcusable, in my opinion.
Too much stats/individual related rather than team related.
3 Jason // Sep 6, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I also think that’s so, Mike. It’s hard to prove since we’re not in the locker room with them, but I can’t be told otherwise. Nor on the stats/individual comment. I’ve referred to it as swinging for the fences, your buddy Josh has phrased it “sluggers not hitters.” That mentality seems pervasive and not just with the results but the plate approaches, or lack thereof. It’s in good part why I like Nady–he has power but hits to the opposite field, is really a line-drive, hard contact hitter. I like his approach and, since he lowered that front step before swinging, his swing has become much more compact. You’re right on him–too few walks, and that needs to improve.
4 Mike Sommer // Sep 6, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The thing is, when someone like Boras goes for free agency or arbitration, they most likely don’t point out a guy’s sac bunts, how often he moved the runner up, or things of that nature. They want the stats to promote their client and get the big bucks. The little things that help win games get ignored.
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