Hot Stove Coal: Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon Saw a Whole Lot of Fastballs in 2009

The Yankees #1-#4 in their lineup last year was one of the best parts of their team. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez helped to fuel the Yankees potent offense as each enjoyed good seasons. The success of this part of the lineup only took off, however, when A-Rod came off the disabled list. He provided protection for Teixeira who started to hit, and Teixieira in turn provided protection for Damon who started to hit, and Damon then did the same for Jeter. Today Buster Olney produced an interesting list on ESPN.com from Inside Edge on the player whose preceding batter received the most fastballs in 2009 (also known as the players who provided the best protection). Here was the top of the list:

1. Adam Jones: 73.7 percent
2. Denard Span: 73.3 percent
3. Joe Mauer: 71.9 percent
4. Mark Teixeira: 71.3 percent
5. Johnny Damon: 71.3 percent
6. Dustin Pedroia: 71.3 percent
7. David Wright: 71.1 percent

As you can see, two Yankees are in the top 5 and if you take the normal Yankee order, that means that #1 and #2 in the Yankees 2009 order each received about 71.3% fastballs when they batted. But was that because of the protection they received or how they hit fastballs? Let's take a look (stats from FanGraphs, knuckleball data excluded since hitters see it very little):

Derek Jeter: 64.1% Fastballs in 2009, 10.1% BB%
Career runs above average/100 pitches on Fastball: 0.98
2009 runs above average/100 pitches on Fastball: 1.61
Best runs above average/100 pitch for career: Split-fingered Fastball (2.47)
Best runs above average/100 pitch for 2009: Curveball (3.67)

Johnny Damon: 64.8% Fastballs in 2009, 11.3% BB%
Career runs above average/100 pitches on Fastball: 0.75
2009 runs above average/100 pitches on Fastball: 0.53
Best runs above average/100 pitch for career: Curveball (1.85)
Best runs above average/100 pitch for 2009: Cutter (4.09)

These numbers aren't necessarily demonstrative of anything in particular, but they are interesting. Both players saw a lot of fastballs in 2009, but Jeter took advantage of them a lot more than Damon did. Teixeira saw only 55% fastballs, but he also had the best career numbers against that pitch throughout his career. A-Rod saw just over 59% in 2009 and has also experienced success against the pitch throughout his career. So we don't know really whether Jeter and Damon were receiving more fastballs just because of their protection; they may have received more fastballs because they historically haven't hit them as well as other pitches.

Let's take a quick look at the career numbers for Nick Johnson who should be the Yankees #2 hitter next year:

Nick Johnson: 61.4% Fastballs in 2009, 17.2% BB%
Career runs above average/100 pitches on Fastball: 1.41
Best runs above average/100 pitch for career: Fastball

This is truly going to test the pitchers who face the Yankees. Johnson is a guy who is used to walking a lot and when he does hit, smacking fastballs around. Well if Teixeira is truly the reason that Johnny Damon saw more fastballs out of the #2 hole last year, then Johnson should see a whole lot of fastballs. He may be forced to swing more than he normally does because I assume the walk rate may come down a bit (his career level of 15.6% may be a bit more likely in the better league and in a better lineup). But if that means that Johnson sees more fastballs, that should be plenty fine for Johnson and the Yankees, especially with that short porch in right and Johnson's ability to hit them out there as HitTracker shows. I'm sure Nick Johnson is saying "bring on the fastballs!"

Picture from the NY Daily News