Over at Baseball-Reference.com, one of the stats that they keep in their league standings breakdown is how a team has performed against winning and losing teams.
Here, they show a team’s record against opponents who have a winning percentage “>= .500″ (meaning a winning team) and opponents who have a winning percentage “< .500" (meaning a losing team).
Let's look at each split...with games through last night. First, A.L. team's records against teams with a winning percentage ">= .500″:
Team W L Pct LAA 36 23 .610 TBR 42 28 .600 NYY 34 31 .523 TOR 28 30 .483 MIN 25 27 .481 CLE 29 33 .468 BOS 31 37 .456 CHW 22 28 .440 BAL 33 44 .429 TEX 29 39 .426 DET 28 40 .412 OAK 29 43 .403 KCR 29 47 .382 SEA 21 39 .350
Clearly, in this situation, the Angels and Rays are the class of the league. But, the Yankees, while not “great” here, are “holding their own” (so to speak) against the “winning teams” that they’ve faced this season.
Next, A.L. team’s records against teams with a winning percentage “< .500":
Team W L Pct BOS 43 17 .717 CHW 51 26 .662 MIN 49 27 .645 TBR 36 21 .632 LAA 41 27 .603 DET 35 25 .583 BAL 28 22 .560 TEX 34 27 .557 TOR 38 32 .543 NYY 34 29 .540 OAK 29 27 .518 KCR 26 26 .500 CLE 31 34 .477 SEA 26 42 .382
You see? Here's the problem for the Yankees this season. Sure, they've won more than they have lost against "losing teams" - so far this season. But, compare their record to what the Red Sox have done in these situations. Boston has feasted against "losing teams" this year. In fact, all the teams that the Yankees looking up at, in terms of their overall record, meaning the Red Sox, White Sox, Twins, Rays and Angels, are playing .600 ball (or much better) when they face a "losing team."
If the Yankees do not make the post-season this year, when they look back at this season, they should lament about how they played teams like the Orioles, Indians, Tigers, Royals and Rangers. Throw in the Reds and Pirates too. To date, here's how New York has done against these seven teams:
Team W L BAL 6 7 KCR 5 5 CLE 3 4 TEX 3 4 DET 1 4 CIN 1 2 PIT 1 2 Total 20 28
Wow. Twenty and twenty-eight against these seven "losing" teams. If New York had managed to just play .500 against these seven losing teams, and went 24-24 instead of 20-28, then the Yankees would be just two games back (in the loss column) of the Wildcard chase - and not six back, like they are now.
That's a huge difference.
Bottom line, the Yankee are where they are now because of how they have played against "losing teams." Their failure to go for the kill against weaker prey is the reason why New York will probably miss out on the post-season for the first time since 1993.
8 Responses to “Why The Yankees Are Where They Are…”
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August 23rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I’m completely shocked that you didn’t tell us their record against losing teams not named the Mariners.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I’m completely shocked that you didn’t tell us their record against losing teams not named the Mariners.
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August 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
~~I’m completely shocked that you didn’t tell us their record against losing teams not named the Mariners.~~
IIRC, the Yankees are two games over .500 this season, against all teams not called the Seattle Mariners.
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
At least we have 3 games left with Seattle!
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The offense has awful numbers against power pitchers, their OPS is way below what it is against finesse type pichers. And a much bigger difference than the AL average.
As others have pointed out here, Giambi’s numbers against power pitchers, and releivers, are nothing short of dreadful. Bye Jason.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
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August 24th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
That is why it was annoying when people would say we are only above 500 because we beat Seattle and Houston etc.
When in reality, we are not leading out division because we cant beat the crappy teams in Baseball.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:20 pm
[...] why the Yankees are so far behind the Red Sox at this point in the season, look no further than how they have played against the Tigers and Royals this season. There’s your answer. August 31, 2008 | Filed Under Math [...]