Do Yanks Need To Start Hitting For Power?
Some interesting splits on the Yankees, to date, via Baseball-Reference.com.
First, the Yankees’ starting pitching, month by month, with July being to-date:
Month G W L IP ERA April 29 11 12 148.0 5.17 May 26 11 8 144.0 4.50 June 28 11 9 165.0 3.82 July 19 8 4 114.2 3.45
As you can see, April was rough for the Yankees starters – and May was so-so. Thank you, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes. But, since June, the Yankees starting pitching has been pretty good.
Next, the Yankees’ bullpen, month by month, with July being to-date:
Month G W L S IP ERA April 82 3 3 9 104.2 3.70 May 76 3 4 7 91.1 3.55 June 73 5 3 8 82.0 3.95 July 53 5 2 4 58.1 1.85
New York’s bullpen was decent for the first three months of the season. But, this month, they’ve been outstanding. Makes sense…as the Yankees starting pitching has improved…there’s been less need to call on the pen…and they’ve responded well to being rested, etc.
Lastly, the Yankees’ batting, month by month, with July being to-date:
Month PA R/PA HR/PA BA OBP SLG BAbip April 1094 .114 .027 .255 .326 .411 .278 May 1010 .123 .025 .275 .339 .424 .303 June 1091 .126 .027 .282 .358 .434 .309 July 726 .123 .019 .262 .340 .381 .302
This is where it gets somewhat ugly. Look at the Yankees HR/PA and SLG numbers here. New York is really hurting in the long ball department this month.
What happened? Well, guys who have produced some power for the Yankees in the past – like Giambi, Abreu and Posada – have been terrible in terms of slugging this month (so far). And, Matsui is out.
However, the Yankees have won 13 of 19 games this month, to date. And, note that the Yankees’ runs scored per plate appearance numbers (R/PA) have been consistent over the last three months. So, has the lack of pop this month hurt the Yankees? Not really – in terms of scoring at the pace they were earlier in the year, or, in terms of wins and losses in July.
And, that’s thanks to the Yankees pitching. So, if the Yankees can continue to pitch well for the next two months, things should continue to go well for New York – even with them not getting much thump these days from guys like Giambi, Abreu, Posada and Matsui, etc.
