| Age | G | |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Johnson | 31 | 19 |
| Jorge Posada | 38 | 14 |
| Juan Miranda | 27 | 7 |
| Marcus Thames | 33 | 7 |
| Mark Teixeira | 30 | 5 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 34 | 4 |
| Derek Jeter | 36 | 3 |
| Nick Swisher | 29 | 2 |
| Robinson Cano | 27 | 1 |
Jorge Posada has played the most games besides Johnson on this list and for good reason. The 38-year-old would have probably spent a good deal of time at DH anyways due the fact that he can't squat for 162 games, but his foot injury kept him from being the Yankees catcher for quite longer than expected. Posada has historically been a better hitter when he catches and 2010 is no different. A caveat though, Posada's time at DH was spent while he was still pretty injured so the results may have also been hindered by the fact he was not always healthy while DH'ing. His .229/.362/.438 splits in 58 PAs out of the DH slot is not bad as it contains 3 HR in his 11 hits. Joe from FanGraphs wrote about catchers who are good enough to DH back on June 1st, and Posada has given the Yankees a great option of using the better defensive player (Francisco Cervelli) at catcher and preserve Jorge's body while DH'ing. Even now that he's returned behind the plate, I expect that quite a few of Jorge's ABs will come with the other half of the day off.
For a while Juan Miranda and Marcus Thames made up a powerful righty/lefty platoon at DH. Well that was the goal at least. Although Thames was able to reach base at a .355 clip out of the DH spot, he didn't do it with much power (only two doubles). Thames is now on the DL. Miranda is no longer with the team either (sent back down to the minors) but his time at DH was much more successful. In 32 PAs, Miranda put up a strong .300/.344/.633 slash line with 2 HR (and 5 XBH total) out of the DH spot. At the very least, Miranda shows that he is a good bench/lefty DH option if the Yankees decide to recall him.
Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez are both suffering from poor seasons but the DH is hardly to be blamed. In 22 PAs, Tex has a higher batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS from the DH slot. Although you hate to lose his glove in the field, maybe all Teixeira needs is a few more half days to get his bat back on track. A-Rod, on the other hand, has struggled from the DH spot. In 17 PAs, A-Rod has hit .188/.235/.250 as the DH and is yet to go deep (only one double). This may be the case of a small sample size as Alex is historically a better hitter from the DH slot putting up a career mark of .298/.406/.596 (odd side note, A-Rod has never gotten a hit as a pitch hitter. It's only 10 PAs, but that's still pretty surprising). But while A-Rod seemed to come up lame on the bases in the 9th inning last night, imagine how much worse it could have been had he actually had to play the field last night as well.
The remainder of the games have gone to Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher. And while Swisher has hit for a high average, none of the other two have done very much as the DH. While it is too small a sample size to draw any type of conclusion (though Jeter's career numbers as a DH aren't good either), many players have a tough time adjusting to hitting without playing in the field. But giving guys a breather once in a while is a big part of keeping a team healthy to--and through October--and DH'ing certain players can help preserve them for the long road ahead.
Would the Yankees have liked to have Nick Johnson in their lineup, productive and healthy all season? Of course. But if the rest of the injuries had occurred like they did, the Yankees would have lost a valuable opportunity to keep potent bats in the lineup or would have had to rush them back to the field where they could have reaggravated the original problem. While most Yankee fans hope that Johnson comes back healthy this season, with an aging team going into 2011, the Yankees should take notice of this when planning their DH spot in the off-season.
Picture from the New York Post
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