Here are the leaders in the A.L. this season, to date, as of this morning:

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The Yankees need to do a better job at turning batted balls into outs.

Batters and Pitchers.

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The pitching has to concern you, if you’re a Yankees fan, no?

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So, who here is going to do better, worse, or stay the same over their next 30 games?

The Yankees have gone 12-10 in their last 22 games.  Cause for concern?

For kicks and giggles, here’s how the Yankees season has gone, to date, in 24-game snapshots:

• 1st 24 games of 2012:  13-11
• 2nd 24 games of 2012:  13-11
• 3rd 24 games of 2012:  18-6
• Last 24 games of 2012:  14-10

If not for that nice run of 18-6, for the most part, the Yankees have played around .500 ball this season.

It will be interesting to see how they do in their next 24 games.

Here are the stats.  First, one-run games:

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And, the two run games:

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The Orioles do a good job at winning close games this year, to date.  Is that Showalter at work?

Via Geoff Baker yesterday -

Last night’s latest nine-run road outburst by the Mariners has thrust them into a very unusual position this late in the season.

As of right now, the Mariners own the distinction of having scored the most road runs of any team in baseball while having scored the fewest at home. Has that ever happened over a complete season? I truly doubt it. It hasn’t happened over the past decade and it’s not even close.

Now, let’s say this up top: the Mariners have played a few more road games than many teams, so yes, we would expect them to have scored more runs away from home than most clubs. But when you look at the “runs per game” average for the Mariners, it’s actually still third-best in all of baseball on the road. Only the New York Mets at 5.07 runs per game and the Yankees at 5.05 are higher than Seattle’s 4.96.

So, another blowout or two of the Class AAA level Kansas City Royals pitching we’ve seen the last two nights and the M’s could legitimately be right at the top — regardless of the number of games played.

At home, the M’s are the very worst in baseball at a 2.86 runs per game average. San Diego is the next closest at 3.02 and the worst American League team in home offense is the Oakland Athletics, who sit way, way up there at 3.68.

Going back over the past decade, I can’t find any examples of a home/road split where a team is scoring more than two runs per game less at its own ballpark than on the road. That’s just crazy. But the Mariners are somehow pulling it off.

Usually, when you see such extreme splits, it’s the home numbers that are far out in front of the road stats.

The biggest case of this was the pre-humidor Colorado Rockies, who now keep their gameday baseballs in a humidor to reduce the effects of altitude on how balls travel. Prior to the humidor being implemented, the Rockies in 2000 averaged 7.81 runs per game at home versus 4.14 on the road.

In fact, the Rockies routinely had a differential of two or more runs between their altitude-impacted ballpark and everywhere else they played.

Maybe it’s time to move in the fences at Safeco?

In his last 44 games, Jeter’s BA/OBA/SLG line is .266/.316/.333 (in 208 PA).

But, the Yankees are in first place and have the best record in baseball. So, Jeter’s stats don’t matter – just like Russell Martin’s batting average and Alex Rodriguez’ slugging percentage.

Those are the two questions that come to my mind when I see these stats this morning:

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If you look at his last 4 seasons, it’s starting to look like last year was an outlier in terms of batting average.  And, 96 whiffs in 81 games?  That’s a lot.

Of course, Granderson could get hot in the second half of 2012 and change all this…or not.

As a kid, I marveled at the work that Graig Nettles did with his glove. And, since then, I have always had my eyes open for great play – defensively – at the hot corner. Related, here’s where each A.L. team’s collective third baseman rank, as of Wednesday morning, it terms of Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average this season:

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Just another way how A-Rod is not helping the Yankees this season?

Defensive Efficiency Record is the rate at which balls put into play are converted into outs by a team’s defense. Here’s where A.L. teams were ranked in this heading into the games of July 4th (this season):

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Seeing this, it’s no secret why the A’s allow less than 4 runs a game on average.

Know anything about RE24? Here’s some on it via Fangraphs:

RE24 (runs above average by the 24 base/out states): RE24 is the difference in run expectancy (RE) between the start of the play and the end of the play. That difference is then credited/debited to the batter and the pitcher. Over the course of the season, each players’ RE24 for individual plays is added up to get his season total RE24.

Why you should care: RE24 tells you how many runs a player contributed to his team. It’s similar to WPA (except in runs), but unlike WPA it does not take into account the inning or score of the game. Therefore, it is a more context neutral statistic. It does however take into account how many runners are on base and how many outs are left in the inning.

And, here’s how Yankees batters have done this season, to date, in RE24:

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So, what do these numbers tell you?  For me, it makes me ask the question in the heading of this post.

Check out how well the Yankees starting pitching has been doing lately:

• Phil Hughes, last 11 starts: 72.6 IP and an ERA of 3.34
• Hiroki Kuroda, last 11 starts: 70.6 IP and an ERA of 2.93
• CC Sabathia, last 11 starts: 79.6 IP and an ERA of 2.82
• Andy Pettitte, last 9 starts: 58.6 IP and an ERA of 3.22
• Ivan Nova, last 11 starts: 74 IP and an ERA of 3.65

Of course, with Pettitte, you can only go back 9 starts since that’s all he has thrown this season.

If anyone wants to know why the Yankees have gone 34-17 in their last 51 games this season, clearly, you can tell them that their starting pitching has a big hand in that effort.  (This streak is why the Yankees are in first place – as it’s 17 of the 18 games that they are currently over .500.)

However, now, the Yankees have to deal with Pettitte being out for a couple of months. And, they need to see if Sabathia’s groin injury will be a nagging and/or recurring issue this year.

Also, we need to see if Hughes, Kuroda and Nova can keep up their solid pitching. (I suspect that at least two of the three will be able to manage it.)

Starting pitchers can go south, in a hurry, in the second half of a season. We’ve seen it happen a million times.

What do you think about the Yankees starters? Can they maintain what they have been doing lately between now and October?

Paging Dr. Galea…

Paging Dr. Anthony Galea…

Lowest SLG% in A.L. through yesterday’s games, for players sans catchers and middle infielders, min. 200 PA:

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And, Alex Rodriguez plays his home games at Yankee Stadium. Then again, I guess it could be worse. Check out that Boston Red Sox first baseman this season…

But, still, just because someone else sucks, it doesn’t mean that A-Rod should get a buddy pass here…

When someone as big as Alex Rodriguez is slugging close to four hundred, you have to wonder what’s going on.

The New York Yankees are 38-25, this season, so far.

Also, to date, this year, the Yankees are 11-0 when playing the A’s, Mets, Red Sox and Braves.

But, all of those four teams will play the Yanks again this season.

Will they ever be able to beat the Bronx Bombers?

Here’s the New York Yankees offense in their last 19 games:

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That’s an average of 5.3 runs per game and an average of 1.8 homeruns per game. 

Clearly, the Yankees are living off the long ball (and great pitching) during this 15-4 run they presently riding.  (On the pitching side, the Yankees team ERA is 2.88 over their last 19 games.)

The homerun pace is off the charts.  If a team hit 1.8 homers a game over a 162-game season, they would have 292 homeruns on the year.

So, the Yankees won’t be playing like this over the rest of the season. 

But, this streak pretty much means that they have locked up a 90-win season this year, at the least, as long as they don’t screw it up over the remainder of their schedule.  And, that should be enough to get into the post-season, somehow, this year.

Can you believe that Melky Cabrera had 51 hits in the month of May this season?  Yes, fifty-one.  In a month.

But, I bet that Mike Francesa still thinks that the Melkman is “not a Yankees outfielder.”

In his last 15 games, Teixeira’s BA/OBA/SLG line is .377/.459/.774 (in 61 PA). And, that includes the “break” he got when the Yankees hosted the Reds. Hey, the dude is streaky…

On your mark, get set, go!

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Discuss.

I was just looking at Alex Rodriguez’s career homerun splits. And, this caught my eye – how many outs there were when he homered:

1 Out -   213
2 Outs – 212
0 Outs – 211

The symmetry here is eye-catching. What does it mean? I don’t know – if it means anything other than it being a cool split.

Here’s the leaderboard in this stat:

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Thoughts on this list?

Any guess as to who this is – with a SLG% decrease five years in a row now?

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Hint: He’s under contract for the next five years with the New York Yankees at a salary around $23 million per year.

Andrew Marchand thinks that they do.

However, when you look at the Yankees over their first 38 games of 2011 and 2012, they’re pretty much at the same place.  And, last year, they ended up in first place by the end of the season. See the stats…

Batting:

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Pitching:

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Here’s Teixeira’s BA/OBA/SLG line from June 16, 2011 through May 8, 2012: .237/.308/.434 (in 459 AB).

Call me crazy, but, I suspect the Yankees were looking for a little more production from him than that…

Maybe he should just give up switch-hitting and only bat right-handed?  Could it be any worse than what he’s doing now?

Here are Alex Rodriguez’ career “clutch” stats, through last night, via B-R.com -

As you can see, A-Rod has his best production (OPS) when his team is ahead in the game or when the game is somewhat out of hand (meaning there’s a difference in the score of five runs or more).  And, A-Rod has his “worst” production in “Late & Close” situations or when there are two outs with RISP. 

Note that his career numbers in ”Late & Close” situations or when there are two outs with RISP are very good.  It’s just that he’s so much better, production-wise, when his team is ahead in the game or when the game is somewhat out of hand.  And, that’s why some probably consider him to be someone who pads his stats with garbage time production.

Where does your favorite team rank?

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Stats via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

TRAA                           TRAA     FRAA     RCAA      PA     
1    Robinson Cano                33        6       27      681   
2    Curtis Granderson            29       -6       35      691   
3    Brett Gardner                22       22        0      588   
4    Nick Swisher                 19        6       13      635   
5    Mark Teixeira                15       -2       17      684   
T6   Andruw Jones                 11        3        8      222   
T6   Alex Rodriguez               11        2        9      428   
8    Russell Martin                8       18      -10      476   
9    Jesus Montero                 5       -1        6       69   
T10  Brandon Laird                -1        1       -2       25   
T10  Gustavo Molina               -1        0       -1        6   
T12  Francisco Cervelli           -2        1       -3      137   
T12  Greg Golson                  -2       -1       -1       12   
T12  Austin Romine                -2        0       -2       20   
15   Chris Dickerson              -3       -2       -1       55   
T16  Eric Chavez                  -6       -2       -4      175   
T16  Ramiro Pena                  -6        0       -6       46   
18   Jorge Posada                -12        1      -13      387   
19   Derek Jeter                 -21      -24        3      607   
20   Eduardo Nunez               -22      -16       -6      338

RSAA                           RSAA      BFP    BR/9 IP     IP     
1    C.C. Sabathia                36      985    11.30    237.1   
2    David Robertson              24      272    10.26     66.2   
3    Mariano Rivera               17      233     8.36     61.1   
4    Luis Ayala                   14      233    12.38     56     
T5   Freddy Garcia                12      626    12.27    146.2   
T5   Ivan Nova                    12      704    12.30    165.1   
7    Cory Wade                    10      157     9.30     39.2   
8    Bartolo Colon                 7      694    11.77    164.1   
9    Joba Chamberlain              5      110     9.73     28.2   
10   Boone Logan                   4      185    12.96     41.2   
11   Lance Pendleton               2       62    12.86     14     
T12  George Kontos                 1       24    10.50      6     
T12  Raul Valdes                   1       28    13.50      6.2   
T12  Jeff Marquez                  1       18    11.25      4     
T12  Rafael Soriano                1      164    11.90     39.1   
T12  Aaron Laffey                  1       50    16.88     10.2   
17   Buddy Carlyle                 0       34    14.09      7.2   
T18  Brian Gordon                 -1       46    14.81     10.1   
T18  Hector Noesi                 -1      247    13.90     56.1   
20   Sergio Mitre                 -4       30    23.63      5.1   
21   Scott Proctor                -6       62    25.36     11     
22   Amaury Sanit                 -7       40    23.14      7     
23   Phil Hughes                 -12      334    13.86     74.2   
24   A.J. Burnett                -17      837    13.33    190.1

Of all these players, which ones are you most interested in, or concerned about, now, in terms of what their production will be in 2012 – and why?

Next time someone tells you that the Yankees cannot live without Nick Swisher next season, tell them to check these numbers:

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And…

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Last season, Swisher was between Jeff Francoeur and Torii Hunter in terms of production. And, over the last three years, he was between Michael Cuddyer and Ben Zobrist.

Nick Swisher is a nice player. He’s not a great player. And, he can be replaced, if the Yankees opt to make that call.

Here’s how the Yankees have done over the past 10 seasons:

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And, here’s how the Atlanta Braves did in the first 10 years of their “post-season run” -

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So, have the Post-2001 Yankees become the Atlanta Braves of the 1990′s? 

You can make a case for it – both reached the post-season 9 out of 10 times and only won one ring.

Here are the numbers:

Pretty safe to say that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have come back down to earth, eh? So, are they still “Great finds by Cashman?”

In any event, Burnett still sucks – no matter what he does today. And, Phil Hughes cannot be trusted. More and more…I don’t see how Ivan Nova cannot be starting Game 2 of the ALDS for the Yankees.

To date, this season, the Yankees are 39-14 in games startes by CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova.  That’s a winning percentage of .736.

And, this also means that the Yankees are 46-39 in games not started by Sabathia and Nova.

If you’re planning on attending a Yankees game in September or October, try and get one when CC or Ivan is starting.