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The New York Yankees lost 7-3 last night to the Boston Red Sox with A-Rod getting a lot of the blame after hitting into two double plays, including one with the bases loaded, and striking out twice. A-Rod not coming through with RISP this season is certainly not something new this season, but he also has company with his struggles with RISP in the middle of the lineup from Jason Giambi.
A-Rod and Giambi batting back to back in the middle of the Yankees lineup has killed the Yankees all season and even more so in August. Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and Bobby Abreu have all been hot in August (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS):
Damon: .305/.385/.474/.863
Jeter: .355/.392/.430/.822
Abreu: .347/.410/.432/.841
So they have been on-base about 40% of the time. Yet A-Rod has only 5 HR and 13 RBI this month and 4 of the 5 HR came with nobody on base. So A-Rod has 1 HR and 9 RBI with runners on base. The top three in the Yankees lineup have been on base 119 times this month, counting just hits and walks. A-Rod has seen 81 runners on base this month and knocked in only 9. 43 of those runners have been in scoring position.
Here are A-Rod's stats for the month of August(AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS):
AROD in August: .238/.363/.488/.851
None On: .281/.395/.719/1.114
RISP: .214/.361/.357/.718
Giambi is similar to A-Rod, he has 5 HR and 15 RBI on the month, but 3 of those 5 HR are with nobody on. Giambi has seen 59 runners on base this month and knocked in 12. 42 of those have been in scoring position.
Here are Giambi's stats for the month of August(AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS):
Giambi in August: .206/.309/.426/.735
None On: .179/.273/.410/.683
RISP: .182/.310/.318/.628
By the way, Giambi is also 1 for 24 against relievers in August. If that doesn’t ask for someone to be pinch hit for late in the game, I don’t know what does. Giambi should be batting 7th and come out late in the game as I have written about in my struggles of Jason Giambi post. If you want to stay righty/lefty, then just bat Hideki Matsui 5th and Xavier Nady 6th. That way you won’t have 3 lefties in a row at the bottom of the lineup. I still prefer Nady batting 5th though.
You can defend A-Rod’s “numbers” all you want but the fact of the matter is that they are empty numbers. He is not hitting with men on base or with runners in scoring position. In those situations he is average at best and he simply pads his stats when nobody is on base. In fact, A-Rod and Giambi have combined for 36 solo home runs out of the combined 53 they have hit. Neither one has hit all season with RISP, which explains why they both don’t have a lot of RBI, despite the fact that Damon, Jeter, and Abreu have been getting on-base at a decent rate all season.
Check out their splits with no one on base and with runners on base(AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS):
A-Rod with no runners: .347/.412/.704/1.115
A-Rod with runners on: .272/.386/.469/.856
Giambi with no runners: .235/.355/.546/.901
Giambi with runners on: .260/.399/.446/.845
As you can see A-Rod is just an average hitter with runners on base and crushes the ball when nobody is on. This is why it looks like he is having such a great season despite his struggles in key situations. As for Giambi, he is average in both situations but his power really drops off with runners on base as you can see by his .446 slugging percentage in those situations.
So what is the effect of A-Rod and Giambi's struggles in the middle of the Yankees lineup? Well, when you get runners in scoring position, your top players have to make the other team pay when there are less than 2 outs, because that is what makes you a good hitting team. A-Rod and Giambi aren’t doing that and they shouldn’t be batting back to back. Damon, Jeter, and Abreu have been getting on base at an outstanding clip, 119 times total in August alone and have scored only 44 runs this month.
Check out some of the other top players and how they are hitting with RISP this season(AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS):
ALBERT PUJOLS: .311/.524/.567/1.091
MANNY RAMIREZ: .342/.490/.579/1.069
JUSTIN MORNEAU: .371/.481/.621/1.102
KEVIN YOUKILIS: .363/.433/.605/1.038
DAVID ORTIZ: .352/.451/.670/1.122
JOSH HAMILTON: .325/.383/.636/1.019
VLAD GUERRERO: .295/.406/.527/.933
MARK TEIXIERA: .306/.458/.507/.965
RYAN BRAUN: .308/.361/.569/.930
LANCE BERKMAN: .371/.513/.603/1.116
CARLOS QUENTIN: .322/.441/.574/1.015
GRADY SIZEMORE: .305/.472/.621/1.093
RYAN HOWARD: .298/.418/.536/.954
Now look at A-Rod and Jason Giambi:
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: .246/.400/.413/.813
JASON GIAMBI: .203/.342/.314/.656
See a couple names on this list that don't belong? These stats show that the best players in the game, who most of the time hit 3rd, 4th, or 5th in the lineup, are getting the job done at a much better rate than A-Rod and Giambi. If you replaced either A-Rod or Giambi in the lineup for one of these other players, I believe the Yankees would probably be right up there with Boston in the Wild Card race.
However, since that is not possible, I think the Yankees are making a mistake by batting A-Rod and Giambi back-to-back in the lineup. They should move either Xavier Nady or Hideki Matsui to 5th in the lineup and drop Giambi to 7th. This would make their offense more productive and give them a better chance to win. It is probably too late for that move to make a difference now but having A-Rod and Giambi batting 4th and 5th this season has certainly made it much tougher for the Yankees to score runs this season and most likely cost them a handful of wins.
Previously: The Struggles of Jason Giambi
More: MLB
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