Cashman: Jeter Just In A Slump
Via George King -
The way Brian Cashman sees it, if Derek Jeter wasn’t going through a deep slump leaving people questioning his value to the Yankees, another name player would be.
“If it wasn’t him it would be somebody else,” the GM said of the captain who is mired in a 6-for-52 (.115) slump across the last 13 games he has played. “Early in the season it was Mark Teixeira and how he has six more years left on the contract. Now it’s Derek Jeter and he doesn’t have a contract (beyond this season). It’s what you would expect.”
Like Jeter and Joe Girardi, Cashman believes Jeter is about to bust out of the slide that has his average at a season low .262 and hitless in the last dozen at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“He is fighting a slump right now, but he will get through it,” Cashman said of the ice-cold hitter Girardi doesn’t believe needs to be removed from the top of the order.
I’m sure there were probably some back in 2002 who thought that Craig Biggio was just in a slump too.
I’ll have to respectfully disagree with Cashman on this one.
Since June 6th — the last day that Jeter’s batting average was .300 or higher — the Captain has put up a .233/.312/.322 line (.634 OPS) with 4 HR, 27 RBI, a 1.56 K/BB ratio and 16 GIDP’s in 82 games (376 PA’s). That’s absolutely putrid. Yes, his BABIP during that stretch has been .268 which is not only low for the league but abnormally low for him. But what that tells me is that 2010 is just not Jeter’s year and that it’s not just a slump he’ll break out of.
Whatever is happening — be it bad luck, attrition of skill due to aging, a little of both or something else entirely — Jeter’s cooked for 2010. I simply don’t believe that he’ll magically turn it on. His swing looks terrible, his approach at the plate is markedly different this year than in previous years and…well…he’s 36 years old.
To quote Marcellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction, “[Eff] pride” and just move the old freakin’ geezer down in the lineup. Jeter isn’t helping the offense, he’s hindering it.
I was a little surprized to hear Kenny Singleton recently, when asked about what’s the issue with Jeter, be so candid. In a nutshell, Singy said that Jeter’s swing, due to age, is too long and slow right now. Further, he suggested, that as an older player, Jeter needs to start making adjustments, which are possible, to offset for the fact that his swing is long and slow at this stage in his career. Kenny wasn’t saying that Jeter is cooked – just that all players need to make adjustments as they get older and that time is now for Derek.
@ Steve Lombardi:
I agree with Kenny. Pitchers change as they get older. When the velocity drops, the great ones use excellent location and pitch selection to still be great. Either recognizes the need…or he doesnt. My bet is that he will.
@ Steve Lombardi:
Which is essentially what scout Frankie Piliere said a few weeks ago: that the swing is long and slow and that he needs to make adjustments.
Which, once again, begs the question of why Jeter and Kevin Long still haven’t made them…
Doesn’t having a “long swing” sound dirty? Or is that just me who thinks that? I bet it’s just me.
MJ Recanati wrote:
As do I, but I don’t think he’s going to say “Jeter sucks” to the papers.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
I wasn’t. At least he presented his ideas and opinions in a respectful manner, one of the reasons I enjoy listening to him. I mentioned before that I wasn’t sure as to why Jeter has abandoned his plate discipline (not that he’d ever be confused with Wade Boggs), but I think he’s cheating against the fastball. It’s odd to me, because Jeter is capable of working the count.
Personally, I don’t think Jeter’s cooked, but he needs to refine his approach to his at bats, be it by cutting down his swing, or guessing better, or whatever.
Raf wrote:
Of course not.
Raf wrote:
And yet he’s seeing the same number of fastballs and performing staggeringly worse. That would indicate, to me, that in trying to cheat against the fastball, he’s messed up everything else and is now flat-out guessing at the plate most of the time.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=826&position=SS#pitchtype
Two things:
1) Whatever it is that’s wrong with Jeter, it’s much worse against righties than lefties.
2) When his defense was under attack 3 years ago, he took steps to improve it. I’ll bet he does the same thing about his hitting this offseason, but quietly and away from the media, as he did with his defense in the offseason 2007-8.
Evan3457 wrote:
That’s commendable and all but I’d be lying if I said anything other than I don’t appreciate him making adjustments on his own timetable. The adjustments were required months ago, not next season when he’s playing on an idiotic new contract.
MJ Recanati wrote:
I really hope that’s not what is keeping him from stepping into K Long’s hitting lab b/c obviously helping the team win now is more important than avoiding the media buzz. I’ve heard people say that Derek is a “feel” hitter and never discusses mechanics. He needs to realize that he is in a different phase of his career and adjustments need to be made. F Pride.