The Yankees are clicking on all mousepads, leading the AL East, the league, and nearly all of baseball, and there is no reason - none! - to tinker.
You hear that, Mr. Cashman?
No. Reason. To. Tinker.
Yeah, there is the Scranton Shuttle, perpetually using bullpen arms like Kleenex. But that's not tinkering. That's normalcy. That's supplying fodder to the front. Tinkering is when you swap Jordan Montgomery for a CF whose greatest attribute is his contract. Tinkering is when you throttle a winning clubhouse by imposing changes that didn't need to happen. Tinkering is acquiring Frankie Montas and Joey Gallo.
That said, I'm going to propose - well - a semi-tink, which might improve our chances heading into the July 31 trade deadline.
What if the Yankees move Anthony Volpe out of the leadoff slot and use that incredibly lucrative placement to boost other batters?
I know, I know... moving Volpe is blaspheme, but hear me out. The Yankee leadoff spot is most protected hitter's position in all of baseball. No batter receives more hittable pitches than the guy perched in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, the game's best offensive tandem. Batting leadoff has helped Volpe raise his average by about 50 points, up to nearly .290 before a recent cooling off.
What if the Yankees experimented with other players in that spot, to juice them out of slumps? Crazy? Maybe. But think about it...
One part of Volpe's game may have been hurt by leading off. He has but 13 steals - tied for the 20th in MLB. Shohei Ohtani has more. If Volpe batted elsewhere, he would freer to run, (though he isn't an automatic steal; he's been caught 3 times.)
What if, say, Alex Verdugo or Gleyber Torres, or DJ LeMahieu, moved into the leadoff slot, depending on the RH or LF starter? Wouldn't their production surely increase? Or even - gasp - Giancarlo Stanton? Wouldn't he be likely to go on a tear? If Giancarlo hits leadoff, that's at least one at-bat per game when he can't roll into a DP.
Right now, when Soto and Judge come into view, you can sense panic in the opposition dugout. But after them comes a declining stretch within the lineup, a problem that might be massively tinkered with next month: I'm talking about a trade by Tinkerbell himself, Cooperstown Cashman.
Before the Yankees trade Gleyber Torres or Anthony Rizzo - current holes in the lineup - they should try everything imaginable to rouse them from their present walking dead state. Last year, the Yankees were embarrassed when Aaron Hicks, a looming pariah, went on a hitting tear in Baltimore. It showed the world what a depressing organization the Yankees had become.
Today, the Yankees have an 11-game lead over Minnesota for the final AL wild card slot. Certainly, after such a great first half, a wild card slot would stink up the Bronx, but here's the bottom line: The Yankees will almost surely reach the postseason. Wouldn't it be nice if, instead of trading hitters who then bloom elsewhere, they salvage those players?
Trying one in the leadoff spot, if only for a while, might just be a way. Am I nuts?
I don't think Rizzo would get much of a benefit from not barreling some better pitches. And Gleyber remains the enigma that is Gleyber. His problems don't seem to stem from not getting pitches to hit, he just doesn't hit many pitches. The same goes for Stanton.
ReplyDeleteDJ remains a sad tale of woe. Would he get better pitches batting leadoff? Maybe he would. Would he get more hits as a result? Maybe. Maybe not.
On the bright side, DJ does seem to be getting at least some hits lately. Gleyber had a homer last night. Stanton remains Mr. Reliable: if we're ahead by 5 or more, he'll probably hit a home run. If he doesn't strike out on a low and outside (or high and inside) pitch. Besides, he can't hit leadoff. What if he gets on? A guy who can't run? The odds of hitting into a DP increase exponentially for every hitter following him.
But...but...BUT...if somebody looks like all he might need are better pitches to hit, it's something to think about. It just looks like all of our current candidates may not be of that ilk.
Yes, you are nuts.
ReplyDeleteGo back to bed. This is a terrible idea.
That's a much more succinct way of putting it, Dick.
ReplyDeleteScenario One
ReplyDeleteCan't have Stanton lead off. Here's why.
Stanton walks. He's on first. Soto smashes a booming double in the gap. He rounds first and heads for second only to find Stanton resting there having tea.
The only scenario that does work however is this...
Scenario Two
Stanton CAN lead off
Same scenario as above... Stanton rounds second and motors it (Like a Vega going up the Grapevine in LA.) to third. The throw comes in! He slides! No he stumbles. No it's s slide! He's safe. He's hurt. He's on the EL until the last week in September. Jasson comes up to replace him and Stanton never plays again.
Sign me up for that.
As an aside...
ReplyDeleteWent to the Renegades game last night. They won. Didn't really see anybody of note with the exception of a reliver named Reyzelman.
Mid-nineties fastball. Good sink, so when the hitters were able to touch it they got nothing but ground balls. Two innings. No hits. No walks. 4Ks.
Kid looked good.
ReplyDeleteSlide Hal into that coveted leadoff spot. Give him the full experience of the Juan Soto Effect.
It’s hard to argue with the team’s success, but Volpe is an inadequate lead-off hitter since he doesn’t walk enough . He has zero walks in June. And by zero I mean none. He should be hitting sixth, and stealing at will. We don’t have a true lead-off hitter on the roster. (Caleb Durbin, come on down! or up ⬆️) Stanton would just clog the base paths, and he can do that anywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s up with Caleb anyway? He’s been on the 7 day IL for 3 weeks after being HBP. It seems the first rule about Caleb Durbin, like Fight Club, is not to talk about Caleb Durbin.
ReplyDeleteWhen/if he comes up the Martian would look mighty fine in that leadoff spot
Mildred - That's interesting. Does he take walks? He's certainly fast enough. Hell, I'd be happy to see him anywhere in the line up.
ReplyDeleteVolpe
Soto
Judge
Verdugo
Jasson (DH/CF)
Gleyber
DJ 1B
Wells
Oswaldo 3B
Not too shabby!
I'd put The Martian in the cleanup slot, Wells 5th. Leave Volpe alone.
ReplyDeleteStanton rides the bench.
Simple, eh?
Stanton seems to hit a lot in garbage time situations, does he not? It ain't our imagination and it ain't just the way the cards turn up. When nobody gives a shit, the opposing pitchers throw much more hittable pitches to him. And he hits them. He can hit a straight fastball over the plate, if he knows it's coming. He can hit a lousy hanging slider over the plate. But in a scoreless game, when the other pitcher makes pitcher's pitches, Stanton doesn't have a prayer. Which is why he should be a BENCH PLAYER, NOT A STARTER.
ReplyDeleteIf HAL & CO. decide to bomb this year, Cashman will get a directive to trade away all the best prospects and get back 40 year old pitchers. How 'bout The Martian, Spencer Jones, & Ben Rice for Justin Verlander? That would pretty much guarantee that they won't win this year and the next few years as well.
ReplyDeleteIf HAL & CO. decide to go for a championship this year, they will do pretty much nothing at the deadline. Then when Stanton & Rizzo get hurt, they could bring up the kids. And the kids will put this team over the top on the road to a World Series win. Only problem is, what if Stanton & Rizzo don't get hurt this year?
They’ve tried batting Torres lead off on multiple occasions, it doesn’t work. Stanton strikes out way to much. As for Djl, even if he’s hitting like normal how much more will he give you than Volpe already does?
ReplyDeleteNow, Volpe gets better pitches batting in front of the heavy hitters, but how much does or can he distract the pitcher with his run ability? What if Soto is getting more mistake pitches because of Volpe?
What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub?
ReplyDeletePretty funny, JM! And I gotta go with keeping Volpe where he is. He has surprised by already adjusting—somewhat—to being the hitter he should be: slapping the ball around, not always going for the fences.
ReplyDeleteGood! It shows he has a learning curve. Maybe learning to draw walks is next. And in any case...why futz with what's working so well?
Sadly, Gleyber is a baseball moron. And I wrote something last night similar to Hammer's comment: it's not so much that Stanton's not clutch...it's that he's done. He just can't get to first-rate pitching in close or important games...which is all the postseason is. And since getting a ring now means going through three rounds of playoffs (at least), it's pointless to have him in the lineup.
DJL would be interesting lead-off.
ReplyDeletefollowed by
Soto
Judge
Martian
Volpe
Vertigo
Wells/Trevino
Rizzo/Gleyber
Oz
Stanton - IL
DJL wouldn't run into outs. Would take a lot of pitches. Just needs to hit above the Mendoza line.
ReplyDeleteBest I can come up with Doug are minor league statistics for Jasson and he walks a little over 13% of his plate appearances, which according to Fangraphs falls solidly into the "great" column. By comparison Little Antny's walks were 8% in the minors and the same in the majors, "average" according to Fangraphs.
So I don't know. OBP is about the same for both, Volpe runs faster but he doesn't steal a lot anyway. I don't know.
A hitter like Stanton should never hit first because he doesn't make enough contact. He strikes out about 35% of the time. I think DJ is shot but I think he makes the most sense to move to the top spot.
ReplyDeleteI've vented my anger at Stanton for a few years. Sure, he's overpaid, one-dimensional and still can't run. But let's be honest: He is considerably better than last year. His average is up about 45 points and is on pace to hit about 38 HR and drive in about 90+ runs. That doesn't qualify as mediocrity in today's game. At this point, we should be happy his numbers are where they are.
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ReplyDeleteYeah, Carl, Stanton May hit 38, but maybe 8 of them will have game impact. The other 30 will be meaningless, lead-padding shots.
ReplyDeleteCase in point: first inning bases loaded, he looks at a meatball then swings through another for a third strike. Comes up later and wows the sycophants in the YESYES booth about his exit bat speed.
PS: the Martian’s recovery time has lapsed and he’s still down on the farm with no place for him in the outfield or the lineup.
Uncle Martin can only benefit from another few weeks or so of continued minor league play-healing - getting ready for the show.
ReplyDeleteWHO'S gunna break first so that he can have a place.
That said we should . . . .
Shock the World and Sign Soto NOW
Speaking of Stanton, I was kind of surprised that in his first 60 games this year he's only grounded into 8 DPs. That covers 227 ABs. On the other hand, he struck out 77 times, with 52 hits that included 25 XBH.
ReplyDeleteAnother surprising stat: batting with RISP. 64 ABs, 18 hits, for a .281 average (6 doubles and 4 HRs). And of course, 15 strikeouts alongside 7 walks.
But...an OBP of .352, slugging .563 with an OPS of .915. I've seen worse. A lot worse, from guys who stay in the lineup. (Judge has a .279/.403/.607/1.009 slash line with RISP. He's had to be Ruthian since May to come back that far from his dreadful start.)
Stanton is not worth the money he gets paid, but again, not his fault people threw a ridiculous contract at him. As much as we like to think we can divorce performance from the money, I think it's human nature to judge the guy with some bias when he makes as much as he does. I wonder whether we'd be happier with him if he was making $10 million a year.
By the way, with 41 ABs in June he was hitting .268 for the month.
JM,
ReplyDeleteI'd be happier with him if I were making 10 Million a year . . .
You are quite nuts. DO NOT FUCK WITH Lil' TONY'S DEVELOPMENT !!
ReplyDeleteJM, we don't have to call Judge Ruthian at this point. We can just call him "Judgian." He's earned it.
ReplyDeleteFuck CashBrain.
Not saying Judge had a golden sombrero because the juju gods read this post...
ReplyDeletebut I could have.