Yankees Leading League in Pitch Count
A statistic that many baseball scouts are putting a lot of weight on these days is pitch count. That is, the number of pitches that a player sees each time he steps up to the plate.
The higher the pitch count, the better, as it contributes to wear and tear on the opposing team's pitching staff, particularly their starters.
As of today, the Yankees are tied with the Boston Red Sox in leading the league in pitch count. Here is how each of the starting members of the Yankees lineup are faring with pitch count:
Johnny Damon 4.06
Derek Jeter 4.14
Gary Sheffield 3.88
Alex Rodriguez 3.89
Jason Giambi 4.68
Hideki Matsui 3.85
Jorge Posada 3.77
Robinson Cano 3.40
Bernie Williams 3.81
Not surprisingly, Jason Giambi is the league leader at 4.68. He has demonstrated a wickedly accurate eye at the plate all season long, and on the rare occasion that he strikes out, you can't help but think that it was a bad call by the umpire.
***
Johnny Damon is turning out to be a good investment so far. When he played for the Red Sox, I thought that he was over rated. I thought that his swing looked awkward and that he didn't have much baseball talent.
Watching him play for the Yankees, I have to admit that he is a fine ball player. His swing still looks awkward, but he has a good combination of power and contact hitting skills. And of course, he has great speed while running the bases and playing center field.
His swing looks awkward because when he actually makes contact with the ball, he holds the bat with his left hand only. Unorthodox, but it works for him.
***
Randy Johnson looks washed up. If he continues at his current pace, the Yankees may get silly with Roger Clemens. Let me be the first to predict it: if the Yankees end up giving Roger Clemens a blank check, he will end up starting about 15-20 games during the regular season, win about 10 of them, post an ERA of 3.00 to 3.50, and then proceed to pull a hamstring in the first round of the playoffs.
Memo to the Yankees: even if Randy is a disappointment for the rest of the season, don't make another mistake and sign Clemens. Same for Maddux, Glavine, and every other aging pitcher in the majors.
- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com
The higher the pitch count, the better, as it contributes to wear and tear on the opposing team's pitching staff, particularly their starters.
As of today, the Yankees are tied with the Boston Red Sox in leading the league in pitch count. Here is how each of the starting members of the Yankees lineup are faring with pitch count:
Johnny Damon 4.06
Derek Jeter 4.14
Gary Sheffield 3.88
Alex Rodriguez 3.89
Jason Giambi 4.68
Hideki Matsui 3.85
Jorge Posada 3.77
Robinson Cano 3.40
Bernie Williams 3.81
Not surprisingly, Jason Giambi is the league leader at 4.68. He has demonstrated a wickedly accurate eye at the plate all season long, and on the rare occasion that he strikes out, you can't help but think that it was a bad call by the umpire.
***
Johnny Damon is turning out to be a good investment so far. When he played for the Red Sox, I thought that he was over rated. I thought that his swing looked awkward and that he didn't have much baseball talent.
Watching him play for the Yankees, I have to admit that he is a fine ball player. His swing still looks awkward, but he has a good combination of power and contact hitting skills. And of course, he has great speed while running the bases and playing center field.
His swing looks awkward because when he actually makes contact with the ball, he holds the bat with his left hand only. Unorthodox, but it works for him.
***
Randy Johnson looks washed up. If he continues at his current pace, the Yankees may get silly with Roger Clemens. Let me be the first to predict it: if the Yankees end up giving Roger Clemens a blank check, he will end up starting about 15-20 games during the regular season, win about 10 of them, post an ERA of 3.00 to 3.50, and then proceed to pull a hamstring in the first round of the playoffs.
Memo to the Yankees: even if Randy is a disappointment for the rest of the season, don't make another mistake and sign Clemens. Same for Maddux, Glavine, and every other aging pitcher in the majors.
- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home