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| Brett Gardner flashing some leather. (Credit: Zimbio) |
Now, I realize that's a big statement to make about a sprightly left fielder who was hitting .244/.372/.696 three weeks ago. Yet I just can't disagree with Fangraphs' assessment. WAR isn't just about big sluggers putting up gaudy power numbers. It also values defense, which may be Gardner's best asset -- his 14.1 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) is currently tops in MLB. (Oh, and by the way, Gerardo Parra's second-ranked UZR is an incredible 12% lower than Gardner's.) In essence, Gardner uses his speed to track balls down and his strong arm to nail foolish baserunners. Exhibit A = this beautiful catch-and-throw double play that recently preserved the Yankees' 3-2 lead over the Cubs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning:
Offensively speaking, Gardner, who has mostly been leading off ever since Derek Jeter was placed on the DL with a calf injury, seems to be reminding us why he's a valuable major league hitter: he gets on base at a .371 clip. He draws walks and can steal bases (14 SB thus far), a combination which is equal to a batted double with the added benefit of bothering and distracting the opposing pitcher. He has even flashed a little power, with 4 home runs this year (he had only 5 all of last season).
Simply put, it's hard to deny Gardner's abilities and value to the team. True, he should probably take a closer look at the scene where Lou Brown tells Willie Mays Hayes that he should be hitting the ball on the ground and legging them out. And he needs to get better jumps because those 10 caught-stealings are at least twice as many as he should have. But the notion of Gardner and Granderson at the top of the Yankees' lineup is intimidating (for opposing teams) and exciting (for Yankees fans). Likewise, the thought of Derek Jeter regaining the leadoff spot when he returns from the DL is depressing. I think Sean Hartnett of CBS New York put it best: the Yankees are sabotaging Brett Gardner by appeasing Derek Jeter. El Capitan, when you get healthy, please concede what Hartnett says and everyone else knows. You are not an adequate leadoff man, and Brett Gardner, along with Jose Reyes and Jacoby Ellsbury, is one of the best in baseball. Time to hand over the keys.
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I agree. I loved all the talk the past two seasons about how the Yankees NEEDED Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, Carl Crawford, or any other leftfielder other than Brett Gardner.
ReplyDeleteThis was on the Yankees LoHud blog yesterday:
"Take away his first 18 games this season, and Brett Gardner is a .356/.438/.521 hitter. That’s since April 26, a fairly significant sample size of 52 games and 146 at-bats. In the past 11 games, Gardner has hit a Major League-best .472, and since June 7 he has more walks than strikeouts and an on-base percentage well above .500."
Brett Gardner HAS to win a Gold Glove this year. I thought he was worthy last year, but he's been even better this year.
ReplyDeleteI know Andrew has always been a proponent of flipping him with Curtis Granderson.
I heard a potential deal involving Brett Gardner for Brett Myers. I would assume this is false BS but if they do something like this I will have to stop watching
ReplyDeleteBesides Myers having a pretty sweet Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart beard I do not see any reason to make that trade.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see gardner bounce back from that wrist injury that killed his second half last year. Early in the season he adjusted to guys throwing him first pitch strikes, since he was not swinging at first pitches. Now I wish he could figure out how to not get thrown out stealing so much.
Gardner for Myers would make no sense unless the Yanks were bringing back Hunter Pence/Wandy Rodriguez as well. I think we can hopefully chalk that up to a bad rumor.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Gardner stealing, he had an excellent percentage his first few years and everyone complained he didn't steal enough--now he tries to steal a lot and people are upset he gets caught. I rather he was more like last year and I know it's frustrating at times that he doesn't steal as efficiently as he should but I think this is something he'll improve on as time goes on.
I think Gardner suffers from a bit of "Bernie Williams" syndrome (he works hard, has great pure athleticism, but doesn't have great baseball instincts). He can be a bit tentative, can get poor jumps, and gets poor reads on pitchers (plus he does that weird thing where he guards his chest with him arm). He's just so fast that he can get away with it at times.
ReplyDeletePart of what makes someone a great base runner/base stealer is not just his speed, their jumps, and his ability to read a pitcher, but his ability to deceive the pitcher/catcher as to when he may or may not take off.
Jose Canseco stole 40 bases in one season and I think it's fair to say that he wasn't blessed with lightening fast speed. Paul O'Neill stole over 20 bases at age 38 and said he didn't do it with his speed but rather based on his reads of pitchers.
I'm not sure if these are skills that Gardner can learn or if they are simply instincts that you either have or don't have. However, it's clear he could use a few words of advice from someone like Mickey Rivers or Tim Raines. With Old Timer's Day coming up on Sunday, might not be a bad time for Gardner to pick some brains.
Gardner for Myers? Come on. Has to be a false rumor.
ReplyDeleteBen, I couldn't agree more about Gardner's less-than-ideal base stealing acumen. I do think, however, that while some guys are born and blessed with especially good instincts, there are strategies that can be taught and learned. I don't think Raines or Rickey were the fastest men to ever play the game, but Raines was known for his reads and jumps, and nobody slid like Rickey. Surely they have some tips and advice Gardner could use.
If Gardner ever has the opportunity to pick their brains, which seems likely given those guys' ties to the Yankees, I'm sure he could learn something that would reduce his CS %.
I know he hasn't been GREAT this year, but career SB%:
ReplyDeleteBrett Gardner: 80%
Rickey Henderson: 81%
Mickey Rivers: 75%
Tim Raines: 85%
Paul O'Neill: 66%
Jose Canseco: 69%
I'm not sure we want him to learn anything from Mickey Rivers or Paul O'Neill ;)
No, but maybe Tim Raines :)
ReplyDeleteJust another reason why Tim Raines is underrated. He's a Hall of Famer in my book.
It's not only the lack of stealing bases but it's geneeral baserunning skills that Gardner lacks. The play against the Red Sox shows this, he doesn't score on a wild pitch to the backstop. I mean BRUTAL!
ReplyDeleteJeter is a good example back in his prime, he stole some bases but he had incredible baserunning skills. I vaguely remember a stat back 7,8 years ago that he advanced base in playoffs well over 100 times and was only thrown out like 3 or something.
Advnacing a base on a hit to right or wild pitch, etc.. is an area of the game that is often overlooked. Yanks need Gardner to improve on this and then they will have the perfect leadoff hitter!
From LoHud: "Brett Gardner was last caught stealing a base on June 18 in Chicago. He’s since gone a perfect 12-for-12, including three stolen bases the past two days in Toronto."
ReplyDeleteSo yeah...