Stat of the Day and the Jeter/Damon Flip

When Joe Girardi decided to flip-flop Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon in the lineup, some privately questioned his thinking. Others just felt it was a pretty minor move. Amazingly, according to Baseball-Reference, since 1954 there were only 7 players in baseball history who have had more ABs at leadoff than Johnny Damon and only 4 players in history who have had more ABs in the second spot in the order than Derek Jeter. Rob Neyer pointed out the expected difference was pretty minimal but was worth making the change. And many sources pointed to Jeter's propensity to ground into double plays recently as a good enough reason for the change.

So let's take a look at what they've done so far from their new slots (granted, some of this may have occurred regardless of spot in the lineup due to Damon being in his walk year and Jeter being relatively healthy):

First, Derek Jeter. The Yankees' Captain is having his best season since his 2006 campaign where he came in a close second in the AL MVP voting. His average, OBP and SLG are all better than last year's numbers. He is projected to score 103 runs, have 210 hits, 40 doubles, 23 HRs, 83 RBIs, 70 BBs (to only 90 Ks), with 33 SBs (with a ridiculous %). He still isn't good in the field, but his bat has made up for that at times so far this season. In his past 7 games, his line looks like .448/.500/.517 so he's helping out the team in a lot of ways.

On to Damon. Johnny has been raking all season. His .899 OPS is the highest of his career and he's on pace for career highs in HRs and runs scored. More importantly, he helped to carry this team earlier in the season when others were struggling greatly. If he hadn't kept them afloat, they would be a lot worse off that they are now. He even earned player of the weak honors on May 11th.

It's a move that didn't get a lot of press and I haven't praised Joe Girardi for, but flipping Jeter and Damon in the lineup has been worked out very well for the Yankees so far.