Brett Gardner just won’t swing
January 9, 2010, 11:00 am by iYankees · 30 Comments
One item we always hear about when discussing Yankee outfielder, Brett Gardner, is his tremendous plate discipline, a skill viewed through the prism of his stellar minor league on-base percentage (.388). Well, this past season, though Gardner’s OBP of .345 was not the best display of plate patience on the Yankees with regards to that specific statistic, he did exhibit a particular level of discipline at the plate that went unmatched by most of his pinstriped brethren.
To be straightforward, in 2009, the gritty young South Carolinian simply did not swing at pitches that were outside of the strike zone. According to FanGraphs’ plate discipline data, Gardner swung at only 17.2% of the pitches that he saw off the plate. Believe it or not, when compared to eagle-eyed sluggers like Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Hideki Matsui, Gardner actually swung at fewer pitches outside of the zone than any other player on the Yankees. Interestingly though, while Gardner did not swing at balls, he also did not swing at many strikes. Last season, the speedy outfielder swung at 50.7% of the pitches thrown to him that were in the strike zone (the team average was 64.6%). The percentage stands as the lowest in-the-zone swing mark of any Yankee last season. All in all, Gardner swung at 34% of the pitches he saw, which was, again, the lowest percentage of all the club’s hitters.
In addition, when actually swinging at pitches that were either in or out of the strike zone, in 2009, Gardner was actually very good at making contact. When swinging at a ball, the left/center fielder was rather Cano-esque, making contact 75.5% of the time. Furthermore, when swinging at a strike, Gardner made contact 91.9% of the time.
I bring these statistics up because, in 2010, if Brett Gardner is, indeed, the team’s everyday left fielder, it seems as though being a bit more aggressive with pitches when they are inside of the strike zone could be offensively beneficial. Basically, if the pitches are not balls, he has the ability to make contact and should try and put the pitch in play. As a regular, proud pitchers will be inclined to challenge Gardner given his specific offensive skill set — he’s a slap hitter with very little home run power — and, therefore, perhaps a slightly more aggressive approach within the strike zone would help the club in 2010. This is something the Yankees actually tried to emphasize to Gardner prior to the 2009 season. As he himself said in ‘08, “I feel like some pitches I should be swinging at, I’ve been letting go, but I learn from every at-bat, and that’s one thing I can continue to work on — not allowing them to just get one over for a strike.”
Thus, this season, I would anticipate Gardner to be more aggressive in the box, but not in a general way. He will continue to avoid off-the-plate offerings, as his keen eye simply won’t allow him to chase bad pitches. Beyond that, though, expect a significant increase in Gardner’s swing percentage with pitches that are actually over the plate.
Photo by Reuters
I think you (and I) are of the few that are optimistic in regards to Brett. I understand you posted the numbers but, didn’t endorse him for the everyday OF, do you believe he can handle the job or not?
As most know, I have been pushing for him to be an starter for over two years, am I missing something that others see? Is it the fact he’s not a typical power guy for the mighty Yankee OF?
I just don’t see a big down side (other then power) for him but, I do see a lot of up-side.
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I’m fine with him as the team’s left fielder. I think he can handle the job and can be an everyday player (he showed that last year). I do, however, think that, with Granderson now on the team, the best way for the Yankees to benefit from his above average bat and his above average glove (as a CF) is to have a left fielder that can provide a more complete combination of offense and defense, whereas Gardner’s value is mainly tied to defense. Gardner will have to be an excellent defensive left fielder this season in order to justify him being there, but, I think he can do it.
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Good enough for me, thanks.
Congratulations on your blog, looks interesting.
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Thanks, Ken. Appreciate your readership.
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iyankees – we already know he can play the field well enough. He has the speed to cover the vast gap and his arm while not good, is better than Damons wet noodle. Jeez we won the championship with jd s defense. We know there will be a big upgrade there. I don’t think the question is defense. I think its can Gardy hit well enough not to be toomuch of an offensive burden.
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We won the championship, not with JD’s lack of defense, rather, we won it with his offense. Damons defense was poor but he still had a lot of value because of his offense. When I said that Gardner will have to be excellent, defensively, in order to have a lot of value, that’s because his offense is, as you said, questionable (I wasn’t questioning his defense).
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Iyankees Chris – what do you think of JD being allowed to walk?
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I’d like to see them bring him back. I’ve written about Damon’s bad defense a lot this past year, but he has a lot of value beyond that (to the lineup, etc.). Also, Nick Johnson is no guarantee for 162 games, so having Damon around to slot in as the team’s DH if there is an injury (allowing BG to play LF), would be nice. With that said, if Damon does come back to be the team’s left fielder I would like to see Gardner spell him more throughout the year to keep him fresh and limit his defensive problems.
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I agree . I thought that was the plan. Cashman kept talking about using the DH spot to rest veterans like Damon, Posada, Arod. So I thought they’d bring back Damon let Matsui go and spell JD with Gardner (80 games) Posada with Molina/Cervelli (40 games) arod/jeter/Tex (40 games). I never thought he’d let Damon AND Matsui slip away. While childishly playing chicken with Boras he misjudged the Matsui situation.
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I agree having Damon back would give Yanks great depth.In 09 there was alot of talk about trading one of our outfielders Nady or Swisher good thing we didn’t do that.
Question if Damon did cone back where would he hit?
Your answer gives you the answer to who should hit 5th with or without DAMON, N.Johnson.Granderson’s offense is more in line with Damon’s.When Granderson was aquired Cashman said he would most likely hit in the 2 hole.
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Vlad just signed for 5 mil with Texas,price for Damon just took another hit, if he is reasonable he might end up back with Yanks.
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That 2 years for $14m is looking pretty good to Johnny right now. Let’s hope Cash still has it on the table and Johnny swallows his pride and takes it!
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Real good.I doubt that deal is there.Market for DH’S is being established.Vlad,Matsui,Nick Johnson,1 year about 5 mil.Thats about what reportedly Yanks are willing to pay for Damon,maybe he’s coming back.
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Problem is Damon sees himself as more than just a DH. So he is going to wait for a LF deal. A deal that won’t come unless it’s from the Yankees. I just hope they sit down and talk.
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Ken – I think there are many people like yourself that see Gardner’s upside. The guy’s speed is sick! There has been a lot of interest from other teams about him. I think the fans that are against Gardner as an everyday player are the ones that want to see a proven star at each position. NY has become spoiled because we have the money to purchase stars. Gardner is good enough defensively and great at causing havoc on the basepaths that the rest of the awsome line-up could carry him as he develops and we learn if he can consistently hit big league pitching. I think with a few tweeks in his swing and an improved eye at the platehe has a good chance of being a .360 min obp guy which means 50 min stolen bases and 100 runs scored. Pretty good for a 9 slot try.
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Yup, that’s the feeling I have had also!
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Good shit right there in the article. Well done
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Thanks. Appreciate that.
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iYankees Chris always has good stuff in his articles -that’s why this site ROCKS!
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Thanks, Twasp.
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Chris based on numbers you ran Gardner should be able to get on base .That is the only component of his game that would be needed for him to be a very productive major leaguer.Compare Gardner and Ellsbury’s complete careers and you will find them to be very close,only Gardner is 1 year behind and is a much better defensive player.Ellsbury is good enough to bat leadoff on a very good sox team,but Gardner’s not good enough to bat 9th for Yanks.WHY?
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Yeah Chris – why?
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I definitely think Gardner is good enough to be on the team and his defense will allow him to play everyday. I don’t think I ever said he wasn’t capable of doing that (if I implied that, my bad). I really do think he would be fine hitting 9th. Still, if I had to choose, I would prefer bringing Damon back for left field, but, if that doesn’t happen, Gardner batting at the bottom of the order isn’t a bad thing at all.
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Just wondering what you think of Ellsbury and how he compares with Gardner.I also agree having Damon back would have its merits.Chris great site one of my favorites.
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Chris – it’s says page not found please post article or new link.
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Which link isn’t working for you, Twasp?
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The link below isn’t working – free swinging Gardner – river ave.
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