Blame Cano, Jeter, Abreu & Giambi For Yanks O-Woes
Don’t believe me? Check the latest A.L. Leaders & Trailers in Runs Created Above Average (RCAA) as of this morning (via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia).
First, the leaders (min 85 PA):
Rk Player RCAA PA 1 Manny Ramirez 13 117 T2 Casey Kotchman 12 106 T2 Carlos Quentin 12 104 4 Josh Hamilton 11 132 T5 Adrian Beltre 10 114 T5 Eric Hinske 10 86 7 Hideki Matsui 9 106 T8 Grady Sizemore 7 122 T8 Nick Markakis 7 117 T8 Carlos Guillen 7 100 T8 Milton Bradley 7 102 T8 Michael Young 7 127 T13 Johnny Damon 6 119 T13 Magglio Ordonez 6 119 T13 Brian Roberts 6 124 T13 Jacoby Ellsbury 6 92 T17 David Murphy 5 119 T17 Chone Figgins 5 132 T17 Alex Rios 5 114 T17 Kevin Youkilis 5 119 T17 B.J. Upton 5 117 T22 A.J. Pierzynski 4 94 T22 Melky Cabrera 4 101 T22 Torii Hunter 4 113 T25 Justin Morneau 3 110 T25 Hank Blalock 3 96 T25 Alex Rodriguez 3 99 T25 Alex Gordon 3 113 T29 Luke Scott 2 100 T29 Daric Barton 2 122 T29 Raul Ibanez 2 122 T29 Aubrey Huff 2 110 T29 Miguel Cabrera 2 117 T29 Joe Crede 2 103 T29 Jermaine Dye 2 92 T29 Ian Kinsler 2 125 T29 Dustin Pedroia 2 132 T29 Brandon Inge 2 93 T29 Mark Teahen 2 114
Godzilla, Damon and Melky are the only Yankees bats doing well – compared to what are the normal expectations for them. A-Rod? Well, to be candid, he’s not terrible here – but, you do expect better from him.
Now, the trailers (min 85 PA):
Rk Player RCAA PA 1 Robinson Cano -12 114 T2 Jose Guillen -8 109 T2 David Ortiz -8 119 T4 Orlando Cabrera -7 120 T4 Jason Bartlett -7 95 T4 Asdrubal Cabrera -7 93 T4 Kenji Johjima -7 86 T8 Julio Lugo -6 103 T8 Garret Anderson -6 113 T8 Melvin Mora -6 120 T8 Travis Hafner -6 116 T12 David Eckstein -5 116 T12 Akinori Iwamura -5 121 T12 Kevin Millar -5 115 T12 Jose Vidro -5 104 T12 Gary Matthews Jr. -5 129 T12 Mike Lamb -5 85 T12 Ramon Hernandez -5 88 T19 Delmon Young -4 108 T19 Casey Blake -4 94 T19 Derek Jeter -4 100 T19 Jhonny Peralta -4 100 T23 Ivan Rodriguez -3 107 T23 Frank Thomas -3 101 T23 Jason Kubel -3 101 T23 Nick Swisher -3 118 T23 Gary Sheffield -3 87 T23 Vernon Wells -3 120 T29 Ryan Garko -2 108 T29 Adam Jones -2 103 T29 Bobby Abreu -2 116 T29 Jason Giambi -2 92
There’s Robinson Cano – by far the worst batting regular player in the league, so far, this season. And, Jeter, Abreu and Giambi are all less than league average performers, with the bat, to date this year.
You have to think that Abreu and Jeter will start to do better. Cano and Giambi? The former should and who knows on the latter? I’m not counting on Giambi coming around.
As far as Cano, well, if he doesn’t start turning this around in the next two to three weeks…I think it’s going to become time to send him for an oblique MRI (wink, wink) if you get my drift.
Melky has been outstanding this year, in the field and at the plate. I think Johnny Damon is a bit underrated in the eyes of many people and that the things he brings to a team don’t show up in standard statistics.
I don’t understand why Cano still gets as much playing time as he does. He’s made some bad defensive plays this year and just isn’t hitting. Same thing for Giambi.